The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that filmmakers are just as hungry to get a stamp of approval from the Cannes Film Festival than even having their films shown at the prestigious film festival. It’s all part of the marketing and an “Official Cannes Selection” stamp of approval could very well mean a prosperous box-office. That’s why the French film festival is unveiling its 2020 selections next week, consisting of 50 titles that would have screened at this year’s now-canceled event.
According to Variety, these are some of the titles expected to be announced:
Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”
Francois Ozon’s “Ete 85”
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria
Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks”
Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round”
Naomi Kawase’s “Comes Morning”
Pascual Sisto’s “John And The Hole”
Danielle Arbid’s “Passion Simple”
Gia Coppola’s “Mainstream”
Charlène Favier’s “Slalom”
If you notice, Sofia Coppola’s“On the Rocks” is part of the list, but I had been told that the director’s Apple TV+ produced movie was set for a Venice premiere, but maybe Apple changed their minds and decided to just get a Cannes stamp and launch it in early fall. It’s unclear what the distribution strategy is for the film, which stars Bill Murray and Rashid Jones, however, since there’s no Official Competition at this year’s festival, the lack of a theatrical release wouldn’t really comply with Cannes’ competition rules or not. The same goes for Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” which is set to get a Cannes stamp of approval as well.
Meanwhile, movies expected to skip the announcement and aim for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival include Leos Carax’s “Annette,” Bruno Dumont’s “On A Clear Half Morning,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Petrov’s Flu,” Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee” and Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions.”