Will Johnny Depp join what is shaping up to be an already star-studded Cannes Film Festival this year? According to press in France, the answer is yes.
Le Figaro reports that Disney‘s swashbuckling sequel, “Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” will play on Saturday, May 14th at the festival, days before it hits theaters in France on May 18th and in the United States on May 20th (it premieres at Disneyland on May 7th). While it is yet to be confirmed — the festival will announce their lineup of films on Thursday — Cannes generally tends to have one or two mainstream films play outside of competition (last year it was “Robin Hood” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps“) and while word has been quiet this year on what the big ticket movie might be, ‘On Stranger Tides’ makes a lot of sense given the around-the-corner release date and red carpet ready cast list.
What else might hit Cannes? According to Variety, Pedro Almodovar‘s “The Skin I Live In” is now expected to appear, however, the latest from David Cronenberg, Andrea Arnold and Terence Davies are all now looking unlikely to hit the Croisette. As previously reported, “Dogtooth” director Yorgos Lanthimos is expected to have his darker, and even more extreme film “Alps” prepped in time with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne‘s “The Kid With a Bike“; Lars von Trier‘s “Melancholia“; Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia“; Aki Kaurismaki‘s “Le Havre“; Nanni Moretti‘s “We Have a Pope” and Paolo Sorrentino‘s “This Must Be the Place” all expected to land competition slots.
For the Un Certain Regard category, Lynne Ramsay‘s “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and Gus Van Sant‘s “Restless” are highly tipped.
So still lots to think about, but in a couple of days we’ll have our answer. The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 11-22 opening with Woody Allen‘s “Midnight In Paris.” And it was also just recently announced that legendary director Bernardo Bertolucci will receive an honorary Palme d’Or.