In 2001, Thierry Frémaux arrived in Cannes with a mandate: Construct a bridge to Hollywood.
The newly put in competition director made a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to promote the foremost studios on the virtues of getting their films premiere on the Riviera. And he discovered two vital believers in Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, who have been working twentieth Century Fox on the time, and have been looking for the suitable platform to launch Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!,” a jukebox musical starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor as tragic lovers. They determined that Cannes, which helped form France’s fame as a vacation spot for world cinema, was the right match for a movie that was a love letter to Paris. The opening night time bash was some of the storied in Cannes’ historical past — champagne flowed and greater than 1,000 company partied as cancan dancers carried out and DJ Fatboy Slim labored the turntables.
“It was such a celebration,” Frémaux recounted at Selection’s opening night time social gathering on the 2026 Cannes Movie Competition. “I had a feeling that nothing could stop us from that moment.”
And over the following 25 years, Hollywood incessantly did decamp for the Croisette, with administrators like Clint Eastwood (“Mystic River”), Martin Scorsese (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”), and Steven Spielberg (“The BFG”) debuting their work within the competition’s huge Lumiere Theatre. Blockbusters from 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which noticed Tom Cruise gazing up from the steps of the Palais as army jets streaked throughout the sky, to “Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning” in 2025, have additionally invested in splashy Cannes premieres. However this yr it’s a special story. There had been hopes that Spielberg would deliver “Disclosure Day” or Christopher Nolan would premiere “The Odyssey” at Cannes, however as a substitute the foremost studios have shunned the competition, viewing it as too dangerous and too costly.
“I hope the studio films come back,” Frémaux stated through the competition’s opening press convention on Monday. However will they? Studio executives, brokers and publicity gurus suppose that future editions of Cannes will provide extra Hollywood star energy, however they warning that at a time of belt-tightening and funds cuts, making the journey to the competition is probably not well worth the payoff.
In idea, attending Cannes must be a no brainer for main U.S. studios. Expertise loves it due to the glamour and world publicity. Advertising and marketing execs find it irresistible as a result of it’s a straightforward carry (aside from the price, which we’ll get to) with built-in fanfare. This yr, nevertheless, a number of excessive degree sources stated the conglomerates are notably thin-skinned in regards to the scathing Cannes critics.
The competition, excessively known as a “temple of cinema,” expects rather a lot from the titles that play out and in of competitors. Critics, particularly the worldwide lot, could be savage on films that don’t meet their excessive customary. As the worldwide field workplace continues to climb out of its post-pandemic-and-labor-strikes hunch, the majors “just don’t need the headache” of unhealthy opinions, per one movie exec who spoke with Selection. Blended notices out of Cannes hobbled “Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” each of which by no means recovered from their lackluster preliminary reception and bombed on the field workplace after they opened weeks later.
On the subject of coin — Cannes isn’t low-cost, and that’s not solely as a consequence of depleting provides of jet gasoline and the closed Strait of Hormuz. Journey, lodging, stylists, glam, help workers and distribution can run over $1 million for a serious studio movie, whereas American independents can spend anyplace from $50,000 to $200,000 to deliver a film to the competition. For the foremost ensemble photos, like Wes Anderson’s frequent collaborators or splashy motion movies by the likes of Cruise the prices get to be really eye-popping. That’s an enormous hit, in accordance with a C-suite marketer who spoke on the situation of anonymity.
“We’re pumping every dollar into opening weekend,” they stated. “We need the resources elsewhere.”
There’s some hope that Netflix may lastly return to Cannes for the primary time since 2017 when the streamer debuted Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja” and Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories” in lavish trend. However the firm hasn’t debuted any movies at Cannes because the competition modified its guidelines requiring that competitors movies play in native theaters earlier than streaming in an effort to quell an outcry by French exhibitors. Netflix, nevertheless, has softened its stance on multiplexes; subsequent yr, it would debut Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” completely in theaters for a minimal of 45 days. If extra of its films observe that mould, what’s retaining Netflix from returning to Cannes in an enormous approach?
Among the many American indies, solely Neon has been out in power this yr, with the corporate bringing a staggering 9 movies to Cannes, together with James Grey’s “Paper Tiger” and Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden.” That’s partly as a result of the competition has change into entwined within the firm’s DNA, with Neon successful six Palme d’Ors in a row, a incontrovertible fact that the studio typically highlights in its promotional supplies. However not everyone seems to be thrilled by Neon’s huge presence.
“It’s become the Neon film festival,” one awards strategist griped, whereas one other publicist didn’t mince phrases, calling it, “pretty annoying.”
