Fans of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino already knew that they probably wouldn’t hear the director’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” announced this morning amongst those chosen to screen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Even though it’s been widely reported that Cannes and Tarantino were hoping to show the film at the event, post-production seems to be pushing it to the last possible second, and therefore, ‘Once Upon a Time’ was not amongst the announcements. But according to the Cannes bosses, that’s not necessarily going to remain true.
While announcing the lineup earlier today, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux commented specifically on Tarantino’s progress and how the media is to blame for all this hype surrounding the upcoming film.
“The Tarantino was not ready,” said Fremaux (via Deadline). “It was abusively and prematurely announced (in the press) which is too bad because it creates an appetite. God knows we have the appetite for it, but it’s in a sprint. It’s one of the ones we hope to have good news on, to announce that it will be added.”
He added, “I have seen a large part of it, but it is not out until the end of July. Tarantino is putting all his effort into having it ready. He wants it to be shown in 35mm so the post-production is a bit longer, he’s still editing. I wish him courage to be ready and to do a great film — what I saw is magnificent.”
So, obviously, there’s good news and bad news with this sort of announcement. Sure, it seems as if Fremaux thinks Tarantino’s 9th film is “magnificent,” which should make the filmmaker’s legion of fans extremely happy. But, it’s also the fact that Tarantino is just doing everything he can to get it done, but he’s just not there yet and may not get there before May.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the 2019 Cannes Film Festival will be without Tarantino, after everything is all said and done. As with every festival, there are always going to be last minute additions to the lineup. So, there’s still a chance that “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” will get the French debut that it clearly wants.