It’s going to be tough for some people in Hollywood to rationalize an expensive trip to Cannes this year.
As I told you before, Hollywood is not coming. The big studios are so far not doing any splashy premieres. Directors like Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan have passed on debuting their films this year for various reasons.
Today the festival announced the opening night film is French. “La Vénus électrique” is directed by Pierre Salvadori. The opening night guest celebrity is an actress named Eye Haïdara.
I’m sure in France this will be a big deal. But in the world at large, not so much. In the US, crickets. These aren’t even French names we’ve heard, let alone seen.
All the American publicity from the festival now hinges just on Barbra Streisand coming for her Palme d’Or. But that’s not enough to sustain two weeks.
Festival grand poobah Thierry Fremaux will unveil the whole line up on April 9th. It won’t be easy if James Gray is his only American director. But Fremaux is a magician. He must have something up his sleeve! I hope he does.
