The 63rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival is upon us from May 12-23 — and should deliver appearances by Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, whose multi-generational saga, Tree of Life for director Terence Malick, is being touted as a big winner at the film festival. Also likely to roll out at the annual film rite of spring in the South of France, which will open with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in Robin Hood: Johnny Depp in Rum Diary, Javiar Bardem in Biutiful, as well as Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jason Stratham, Jet Li and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the explosively-charged Expendables.
A-list movies not in contention for awards include Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps — the followup to their 1987 hit Wall Street — and Woody Allen’s ensemble romance, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, starring Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Freida Pinto. Only one U.S. film will be in the running for Cannes’ top prize: director Doug Liman’s Fair Game, starring Watts as CIA covert operative Valerie Plame, whose identity was leaked by officials in the Bush administration. In years past, there were as many as five American films in competition at Cannes.
U.S. director Tim Burton heads the jury, which also includes British actress Kate Beckinsale, Puerto Rico’s Benicio del Toro and Indian director Shekhar Kapur, who made Elizabeth.