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Of the many post-match analyses following Thursday’s Cannes Film Festival lineup press conference, one of the central takeaways is likely to be the lack of Hollywood presence on the Croisette, at least so far.
The festival may be kicking off in suitably A-list fashion thanks to The Dead Don’t Die, Jim Jarmusch’s curtain-raising Focus Features zombie-comedy that boasts an all-star cast of Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton and Steve Buscemi, alongside the likes of Selena Gomez, Danny Glover and Daniel Craig.
But aside from a brief musical interlude thanks to the Elton John biopic Rocketman — starring Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell and Bryce Dallas Howard — the red carpet is going to look fairly threadbare on the studio and major Hollywood celebrity front based on the movies unveiled so far.
“The buzz in the press room is that there are no stars, setting Venice up for another big year,” said one source at the press conference.
When rumors of the lineup first began emerging, there were hopes for a double-billing for Brad Pitt with Quentin Tarantino’s Sony release Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Fox’s Ad Astra from Cannes regular James Grey, neither of which were announced on Thursday. Festival director Thierry Fremaux did admit that Tarantino could still make the cut with his “magnificent” movie, should he complete it in time, something that would ramp up the Cannes star power with Pitt, plus co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie.
Justin Kurzel’s outlaw biopic The True History of the Kelly Gang would also have added a little glitz thanks to stars Russell Crowe, Charlie Hunnam and Nicholas Hoult, but appears set for elsewhere. Another film rumored, but not unveiled for Cannes, is Robert Egger’s black-and-white fantasy horror movie The Lighthouse, which stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Cannes favorite Kristen Stewart — whose sneakers have become something of a festival fixture — looks also set to miss the south of France this year, with Jean Seberg biopic Against All Enemies from Benedict Andrews also missing from the lineup announcement.
All could change in the coming weeks as late additions are revealed, of course. But as it currently stands, the figure most in Cannes will likely be seeking out for a selfie is the star of Asif Kapadia’s soccer documentary Maradona, Diego Maradona.
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