Festival de Cannes 2013 (Screening tomorrow THE IMMIGRANT starring Joaquin Phoenix)

[riczhang]

Why wouldn't they send it to Cannes? If it won an award the movie would obviously get more attention, like The Artist

 

Fruitvale premiered at Sundance. 

[Jack Nevada]

Fruitvale premiered at Sundance. 

So did Precious, but it screened at Cannes and won an Oscar

[riczhang]

So did Precious, but it screened at Cannes and won an Oscar

 

Cannes is picky when it comes to second hand movies. It might not make it, and Cannes is probably the one award giving body where Harvey Weinstein's name doesn't matter.

[TLK]

The Great Gatsby will open the festival.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/great-gatsby-open-cannes-film-427454

 

The Great Gatsby will open the 66th Festival de Cannes, organizers said early Tuesday local time.

 

The movie will screen May 15 at the Grand Theatre Lumiere of the Palais des Festivals, out of competition as part of the Official Selection.

[riczhang]

Brilliant. But very strange. It'll have already opened in the States. Either WB pressured Cannes into relaxing (and disregarding) their rules, or we'll be seeing a date change for Gatsby in multiple territories very soon. 

Edited March 12, 2013 by riczhang

[Bob Violence]

If it's a rule it would have to be a relatively recent one. Bad Education opened in Spain two months before it became the opening film at Cannes.

[riczhang]

If it's a rule it would have to be a relatively recent one. Bad Education opened in Spain two months before it became the opening film at Cannes.

As a general rule Cannes doesn't give already premiered or opened movies high profile slots.

[TLK]

I think it is opening the same day in France and in the same week worldwide so I don't think this is a major issue.

[CJohn]

How is Gatsby supposed to open this since it opens in America 5 days before?

[Gopher]

If Gatsby is a disaster then this might become quite awkward. 

[CoolioD1]

It totally makes sense, I always thought it would be the opener this year. I've got my hopes up but critics are definitely gonna have their claws out with this one.

[TLK]

Gatsby will be a disaster. They moved it from the December date for a reason and the critics are always very harsh on movie adaptations of literary classics. This is the Cannes opening movie because of the cast and especially Leo. Cannes always wants big stars and there is no one bigger than Leo.

[riczhang]

I think that because it's opening Cannes it won't be a disaster. It might not be very good, but it won't be a disaster. Cannes still values quality above most other things. 

[CoolioD1]

I think that because it's opening Cannes it won't be a disaster. It might not be very good, but it won't be a disaster. Cannes still values quality above most other things. 

Da Vinci Code, Robin Hood and Blindness were all opening night films. It doesn't really say much about the film's quality tbh.

[riczhang]

Da Vinci Code, Robin Hood and Blindness were all opening night films. It doesn't really say much about the film's quality tbh.

 

Recently they've been good though. Moonrise and Midnight

[CoolioD1]

Recently they've been good though. Moonrise and Midnight

Wow. Two in a row!

[RichWS]

Good choice for the opener. I have a surprising amount of faith in Luhrmann. I'm quite excited to see it myself.

[Michael Gary Scott]

http://youtu.be/vKDwY6FwOh4

[Bob Violence]

As a general rule Cannes doesn't give already premiered or opened movies high profile slots.

 

Yes, as a general rule. It's not an actual rule; the rules (which don't make any distinction between different slots) say they only show "films that have not been released anywhere other than their country of origin." They're not flouting their rules to make an exception for Gatsby.

 

(Incidentally, looking over the rules it seems Before Midnight is totally out because it played at Sundance in a section with non-U.S. films. I guess they would've gone for the "U.S. Dramatic" section if they wanted to stay eligible for Cannes.)

 

As for Gatsby, the fact it's not playing in competition like Moonrise Kingdom might be taken as an indicator of quality, but probably not. Among other recent opening films, Up was out of competition and it was pretty good while weak stuff like Blindness and My Blueberry Nights got competition slots, so it probably comes down to festival-studio politics more than anything else. (In Woody Allen's case, he never takes a competition slot.)

Edited March 13, 2013 by Bob Violence

[riczhang]

Gatsby is breaking the rules though. India, Taiwan, and the States will have already seen the film. France is getting it the same day it's opening in Cannes so I'd assume that the Paris premiere would be a few days earlier than that.