The Cannes Film Festival is just under two months away, and while there has been plenty of speculation and wish-making for this year’s lineup — including our own! — with virtually every trade running a massive list of Every Arthouse Movie that might possibly hit the Croisette, it looks like a clearer picture is emerging around what films we can expect and which we can rule out.
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While Cannes may carry the brand of prestigious and classy cinema, they are not opposed to big blockbusters getting on the red carpet. And plenty of potential titles have been dropped as contenders, alongside a plethora of auteur driven vehicles. So, let’s keep this simple and sort out who’s in and who’s out, based on the latest reports from Variety and Screen Daily, and a couple of our own guesstimates:
Not Going
Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk”
Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Luc Besson’s “Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets” (the director himself recently confirmed it simply won’t be ready in time)
Wim Wenders’ “Submergence” starring James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander
Janus Metz Pedersen’s “Borg v. McEnroe” starring Shia LaBeouf
Terrence Malick’s “Radegund”
Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” (it only recently wrapped)
Possibly In The Mix
George Clooney’s Coens penned “Suburbicon” (would need to be finished in time)
Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing” (also currently not finished and needs more post-production than usual for its special effects)
“It Follows” director David Robert Mitchell’s “Under The Silver Lake”
Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” starring Joaquin Phoenix
Andrew Haigh’s “Lean On Pete”
Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel”
“Leviathan” director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless” (he’s hoping to have it finished in time)
Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight released the killer trailer for the film today, but with no word on a release date — could they be saving it for Cannes first?)
Strong Contenders
Michael Haneke’s “Happy End”
Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled”
Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck”
Bong Joon-Ho’s “Okja”
David Cameron Mitchell’s “How To Talk To Girls At Parties”
Hong Sang-Soo’s “Claire’s Camera” (which was actually shot on location at the festival last year)
Roman Polanski’s “Based On A True Story”
Michel Hazanavicius’ “Redoubtable”
Arnaud Desplechin’s “Ismael’s Ghosts”
“Blue Is the Warmest Color” director Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Mektoub Is Mektoub”
Michaël Roskam’s “Racer and the Jailbird” starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Adèle Exarchopoulos
Yorgos Lanthimos’s “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”
Ruben Östlund’s “The Square” starring Elisabeth Moss
“Wadjda” director Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Mary Shelley”
Joachim Trier’s “Thelma”
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Wild Pear Tree”
Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama”
Bruno Dumont’s Joan Of Arc musical “Jeannette”
Naomi Kawase’s “Radiance”
“Mustang” director Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s “Kings” starring Daniel Craig and Halle Berry
Lisa Langseth’s “Euphoria” starring Eva Green and Alicia Vikander
“White Dog” director Kornél Mundruczó’s “Superfluous Man”
“Tangerine” director Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project”
The Safdies’ “Good Time” starring Robert Pattinson
Obviously, not everything will get in, and there are always a few surprises to be had. But if even half of those strong contenders makes the mix, it’s going to be a helluva year on the Croisette.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 17 to 28.
