The Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, started on Tuesday and runs through May 23.
Held in the south of France, the festival has been the launching platform for major U.S. films such as “Star Wars: Episode III” (2005), “Kung Fu Panda” (2008) and “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022).
This year, however, there will be no major Hollywood blockbusters shown at the festival.
The major reasons, according to Variety, for Hollywood’s absence are the high cost and critical reviews that come with the festival, as well as awkward timelines for this year’s blockbusters.
Hollywood has also been the subject of some criticism at Cannes this year.
“Shame on Hollywood,” said Paul Laverty, a Scottish screenwriter, referring to the blacklisting of movie stars who condemned Israel’s War in Gaza.
Some smaller films produced in the U.S., such as James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” will be shown at the festival.
Why Hollywood was missing in action
In recent years, major production companies have become wary of releasing their films at festivals.
When a film appears at a festival, critics are often able to publish reviews months before the film debuts in theaters. If critics don’t like the film, they can tank the film’s box office numbers.
Beyond the critics, it is extremely expensive to debut a film at Cannes.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that film producers typically covers all of the expenses for cast and crew who attend and that a single ticket to showings alone can cost thousands of dollars.
On top of crew expenses, the producer also faces high marketing costs for promotional events at the festival.
The timelines of many U.S blockbusters also make an appearance at Cannes difficult.
Movies like Pixar’s “Hoppers” and Amazon MGM Studio’s “Project Hail Mary” were set to release well before the dates of the festival. The most anticipated movies for the second half of the year, such as “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three” largely fall at the very end of the year.
Most anticipated films of the festival
The major films that will be shown at the festival are competing for the coveted Palme d’Or, the highest prize at the French festival.
Here are some of the most anticipated:
‘Paper Tiger’
Director: James Gray
Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller star in a film about two brothers pursuing the American Dream. The family gets involved with a Russian mafia scheme that threatens to break the bond of their family.
‘All of a Sudden’
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The French-Japanese film follows a woman attempting to introduce a new method of care into a Parisian nursing home where she works. Through her work she meets a Japanese playwright who is terminally ill.
‘Fatherland’
Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
The German film, starring award-winning actress Sandra Hüller, follows the story of the German novelist Thomas Mann as he travels from West to East Germany with his daughter.
‘Sheep in the Box’
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
The Japanese film follows a couple who adopts a humanoid robot that resembles their recently deceased son. The film explores themes of grief, memory, and artificial life.