The speculation about what films will hit the Cannes Film Festival continues to grow, and while we’ve got the film we’re crossing our fingers for, what you wish for and what you get are often two different things. Last week, the word around the cinephile campfire was that Steven Spielberg‘s "The BFG," Shane Black‘s "The Nice Guys," Woody Allen’s "Café Society," Sean Penn‘s "The Last Face," and Jeff Nichols’ "Loving" were strongly tipped to hit the fest in various categories. Now some more titles are in the mix.
Deadline is tipping Pedro Almodovar‘s "Julieta," Nicolas Winding Refn‘s "Neon Demon," Xavier Dolan‘s "It’s Only The End Of The World," Olivier Assayas‘ "Personal Shopper," Denis Villeneuve‘s "Story Of Your Life," Tom Ford‘s "Nocturnal Animals," Andrea Arnold‘s "American Honey," Paul Verhoeven‘s "Elle," Tran Ahn Hung‘s "Eternity," and Cristian Mungiu‘s "Family Photos" as possibilities.
Meanwhile, Screen Daily opens up the speculation box to include Jim Jarmusch‘s "Paterson," Clint Eastwood‘s "Sully," John Lee Hancock‘s "The Founder," Bruno Dumont‘s "Slack Bay," Wim Wenders‘ "The Beautiful Days Of Aranjuez," Cristi Puiu‘s "Sierra-Nevada," the Dardennes‘ "The Unknown Girl," Pablo Larrain‘s "Neruda," Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s "After The Storm," Garth Davis‘ "Lion," Cate Shortland‘s "Berlin Syndrome," and Park Chan-wook‘s "The Handmaiden." Phew.
Of course, with a limited number of slots, there’s no way all of those films will be making it into the lineup, but it’s a good reminder that we’re in for a helluva year in film. But perhaps it’s easier to consider the movies that won’t be ready in time or aren’t expected to show up. Those include Derek Cianfrance‘s "The Light Between Oceans," Stephen Frears‘ "Florence Foster Jenkins," and Lucrecia Martel‘s "Zama."
And the best indication that nobody really knows anything is the divergent word on pictures like Oliver Stone‘s "Snowden" (which will either be Out Of Competition or not screened at all depending on which trade report you go by) and Ben Wheatley‘s "Free Fire" (which will either screen Out Of Competition or in the Midnight slot, or wait until a fall festival.)
Let us know what you’re hoping to see walk the red carpet. The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 11-22. Check out the beautiful poster for this year’s festival above and below, featuring an image from Jean-Luc Godard‘s "Contempt."
