‘Digger’ & ‘The Odyssey’ Ruled Out For Cannes 2026 Lineup, ‘Disclosure Day’ Debuting At Festival Down To Spielberg/Universal

Some big movies coming out this year “won’t be ready” in time for the Cannes Film Festival lineup in May. Those two major titles, “Digger” starring Tom Cruise and the Matt Damon-led Greek epic “The Odyssey” from writer/director Christopher Nolan, are said to be off the table for the upcoming yearly event in France.

Cannes Chief Thierry Frémaux, speaking with Variety, has outlined that the new films from Nolan and Alejandro González Iñárritu won’t be completed in time for screenings at the festival. However, he stopped short of ruling out Steven Spielberg’s UFO adventure pic “Disclosure Day,” and whether that film is shown at Cannes would come down to timing and the director/studio.

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“I don’t know. That will be his decision and Universal’s. A film’s release depends on many strategic factors. Sometimes Cannes fits into their strategy, and sometimes it doesn’t. I respect that,” Thierry said of the chances of the Spielberg pic being at the event.

“When Hollywood studios believe that a presence at Cannes is beneficial to them, they come. Quantitatively, studios are producing fewer blockbusters and fewer auteur films than in the past,” Thierry said. He’s not exactly shocked; fewer big studio projects are lining up to be screened at Cannes, as studios are rolling back their overall number of movies or ones that make sense for a festival circuit promotion ahead of global releases.

When pressed if they’ll have other American films, “Yes, even if there’s no ‘Top Gun’ or ‘Mission: Impossible.’ By the way, I’d like to thank Paramount again for playing along back then. It was a huge success. Just like Fox when ‘Moulin Rouge’ opened the festival, or Warner bringing us Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis.’” Adding that not every festival entry from America needs to be a HUGE project, “Hollywood films or simply American ones. ‘Anora’ wasn’t a studio film; it won the Palme d’Or and took home the Oscar. And Sean Baker made a beautiful love declaration to movie theaters.

Although Thierry also left the door open for James Gray’s new film “Paper Tiger” to potentially screen as well, without sounding certain that one would or wouldn’t be making the cut, either, until next month on the subject, as the Cannes lineup is said to be announced on April 9.

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There are still expectations that a handful of splashy Hollywood films will make their debut at Cannes, hoping for some early buzz; sometimes that can backfire (take “Joker: Folie à Deux” for example), but what that final lineup will look like remains to be seen. Of course, The Playlist will keep abreast of which movies will and will not be at Cannes, which takes place between May 12 and 23. We’ll know more in the coming weeks.