Which Stars Will Join De Niro at Cannes This Year?
The industry is buzzing with speculation about who will attend the world´s premier film event one month before it kicks off in the south of France.
Cinemas are desperate for some stardust and sparkling new films after a weak start to 2025.
Cannes president Iris Knobloch and long-time director Thierry Fremaux will unveil the selection of in-competition films and other major premieres at a press conference in Paris on Thursday.
They confirmed on Monday that De Niro, star of "Taxi Driver" and "Godfather Part II", was to be given an honorary Palme d'Or at the opening ceremony on May 13 for his contribution to cinema.
"With his restrained style, expressed through the softness of a smile or the hardness of a glance, Robert De Niro has become a legend of cinema," the festival said in a statement in French.
Fellow Hollywood icon Tom Cruise, now 62, has also been tipped to appear in Cannes three years after making a dramatic helicopter entrance at the festival for "Top Gun: Maverick."
Rumors suggest he may return with the latest instalment of "Mission: Impossible", which has been billed as the final chapter in the saga.
The film is slated for release in French cinemas on May 21, which would be perfect timing for a Cannes launch out of competition.
Many cinema owners are in need of a blockbuster and are banking on Cruise's star power to sell tickets after a terrible start to 2025 that has been marked by a series of expensive Hollywood flops.
These include Disney's live-action "Snow White," superhero sequel "Captain America: Brave New World" and bizarre sci-fi movie "Mickey 17".
The much-hyped "A Minecraft Movie", released last week, was panned by critics but might help to lift the gloom after a record-breaking opening weekend in the United States.
That saw fans of the legendary computer game flock to cinemas.
- Contenders -
The head of the Cannes jury this year is French screen legend Juliette Binoche, who will hand out the famed Palme d'Or for best film.
Around 20 movies are set to compete in the top category, looking to emulate the success of last year's winner, "Anora" by Sean Baker.
Terrence Malick, who won the Palme d´Or for "The Tree of Life" 14 years ago, has been tipped to return with a long-awaited project inspired by biblical stories.
Other festival veterans could also return, such as Jim Jarmusch ("Broken Flowers", "Dead Man"), whose latest film stars Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver.
Wes Anderson, 55, has also assembled yet another star-studded cast for his latest film, featuring Benicio Del Toro, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson.
Johansson, 40, could bring a breath of fresh air to the festival by presenting her directorial debut, "Eleanor the Great".
Another actress-turned-director, Kristen Stewart, 34, has also recently completed her first feature film.
Experts have also suggested the new master of American horror, 38-year-old Ari Aster -- known for his chilling films "Hereditary" and "Midsommar" -- could make his Cannes debut with a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone.
Three French female directors, Julia Ducournau (2021 Palme d´Or winner for "Titane"), Rebecca Zlotowski ("Other People's Children", "An Easy Girl") or Alice Winocour, who has made a film about Paris Fashion Week starring Angelina Jolie, have also been named as contenders.
Exiled Russian filmmakers such as Kirill Serebrennikov, Andrey Zvyagintsev and rising talent Kantemir Balagov could also feature.
The festival has yet to announce its opening film or the full composition of the jury.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Lindsay Lohan Comes Full Circle with ‘Freakier Friday'
Lindsay Lohan says she drew upon her own experiences of motherhood for "Freakier Friday", the highly-anticipated sequel to her hit 2003 movie "Freaky Friday". Lohan, 39, welcomed her first child in 2023, a year before the Disney movie was filmed. "It felt full circle for me, and also the timing was pretty impeccable considering that I'm a new mom and I was able to bring being a mom into the character," Lohan said at the film's London premiere on Thursday. "It's the first time I'm able to do that on screen." "Freaky Friday", with a reported budget of $26 million, was a surprise hit, making over $160 million worldwide and obtaining a cult following. The 2025 follow-up sees Lohan and actress Jamie Lee Curtis reprising the roles of mother and daughter duo Tess and Anna Coleman. Twenty years on, Anna is a single parent to tomboy teen daughter Harper, played by Julia Butters. Their relationship comes under stress when Anna falls for Eric (Manny Jacinto), the father of Harper's new British classmate Lily (Sophia Hammons), and they decide to get married. The future stepsisters, with a mutual dislike for one another, decide to intervene. While the 2003 film saw a body swap between Tess and Anna, things get "freakier" this time around with Tess and Anna switching bodies with Lily and Harper. Before signing on to the sequel, Lohan ensured that Anna returned as a multi-faceted and relatable character. "It was important to me that we explained who Anna is today and how she's evolved and the dynamic between her and her daughter as she's a single working mom. There are some basic points that I wanted to get across because I want people to see the movie and find a piece of it that they can grab onto and be like, 'okay, I get that'," she said. Directed by Nisha Ganatra, the movie also sees actor Chad Michael Murray reprising the role of young Anna's love interest, Jake. Shooting the sequel was a "lovefest", said Murray. "It was the same, but better. It felt very much like connective tissue to the first movie. Everyone loved going to work and no one wanted to go home." "Freakier Friday" marks Lohan's big screen return. "It's obviously nerve-wracking because you want it to be great and you want people to love what you do," she said. "As long as people are enjoying what I'm doing and it's making them happy, then I feel like I'm doing my job and that's what I'm here to do." "Freakier Friday" begins its global cinematic rollout on August 6.
Al Arabiya
27-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
George lucas finally comes to comic-con to give a preview of his new museum
George Lucas is finally coming to the stage at Comic-Con. And while Star Wars is sure to get a mention, the 81-year-old is making his debut appearance at the San Diego pop cultural extravaganza for a more earthbound reason: a preview of his long-in-the-works Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. The Sunday panel discussion in Comic-Con's vaunted Hall H will act as a relatively quiet closing act to the four-day festival that brought its usual series of big, bombastic looks at upcoming sci-fi and superhero projects. The museum-centered session is also meant to be a broader discussion of the new institution's subject matter: the histories and traditions of narrative art across time and cultures. Lucas will be joined by fellow filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and art director Doug Chiang, who has worked on a steady series of Star Wars films starting with the Lucas-directed prequels in 1999. Queen Latifah will act as moderator. Lucas is easily on the Mount Rushmore of figures whose work has had the greatest inspiration on the kind of films and other pop cultural celebrated annually in Hall H at Comic-Con. But the convention was'nt a common showcase for blockbuster films when he was directing them himself. He sold Star Wars and Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Co. in 2012, and Disney has used different venues to make big splashy presentations about its properties. The museum, founded by Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, is set to open next year in Exposition Park near the Los Angeles Coliseum, several of the city's other museums, and the University of Southern California. The 11-acre campus and 300,000-square-foot building, designed by architect Ma Yansong, includes galleries, two theaters, and related spaces.
Asharq Al-Awsat
26-07-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Disney Brings the Grid, and the Light Bikes, with ‘Tron: Ares' Footage at Comic-Con
The Grid took over Comic-Con on Friday, bringing the stars of the new "Tron: Ares" films to unveil footage and reveal the story behind the franchise's third movie. The film stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith as the story brings the virtual environment of the Grid, complete with light bikes, into the real world. Disney showed off several minutes of footage, including a light bike chase scene in the real world and another in the red-hued Grid. Propelling the onscreen action is a propulsive Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. "It's fun to see it on the big screen for the first time," said director Joachim Rønning. Disney turned the Hall H panel into a spectacle, with red lasers filling the room and characters in suits with red lights entering the massive hall. Asked what excited her about joining the "Tron" franchise, Lee responded: "I just wanted to ride a light cycle." Friday's panel ended with the premiere of the music video for "As Alive as You Need Me to Be," the first Nine Inch Nails song from the soundtrack. "Tron" has never been in the top tier of sci-fi franchises. The original 1982 film starring Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a man sucked into a computer vortex known as the Grid, was admired for its ground-breaking concept and effects, and was a modest hit with moderately good reviews. Perhaps more importantly, it won a cult following and has been maintained enough in cultural memory to remain a valuable property for Disney. The 2010 film "Tron: Legacy," starring Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, made more than $400 million globally. A TV show that followed, "Tron: Uprising," lasted just one season. Norwegian director Joachim Rønning has helmed other Disney franchise films: 2017's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" and 2019's "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil." Leto and Bridges are both Oscar winners, and Rønning is an Oscar nominee.
