By Miranda Murray and Hanna Rantala
CANNES, France (Reuters) -Movie legends from Tom Cruise to Denzel Washington will gather in Cannes this week for the 87th incarnation of its film festival, as the industry tries to shake off worries over dwindling audiences and threatened U.S. tariffs.
Cruise will be launching what is touted as the last in his “Mission: Impossible” franchise and scores of others will be hoping to follow the path that last year’s top prize winner “Anora” took to Oscar glory.
Alongside them, Robert de Niro will be getting a lifetime achievement award, and star actors Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Stewart and Harris Dickinson will all be trying their hands as directors with films competing in the smaller categories.
Just a week ago, U.S. President Donald Trump shook the global film industry by announcing a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country – a statement that left many studio executives alarmed and baffled about when such levies might be applied or how they might come into force.
In Cannes, those worries have dominated backroom conversations, but made no dent on the frontline announcements.
“Nobody wants to be talking about tariffs and Trump here,” said Scott Roxborough, European bureau chief for The Hollywood Reporter. “In the industry, everybody’s going to be talking about it.”
OSCAR GLORY
The festival kicks off on Tuesday evening. The decisions of its jury – chaired by France’s Juliette Binoche with “Monster’s Ball” star Halle Berry with her on the panel – will be closely watched.
“Anora”, the winner of Cannes’ top prize the Palme d’Or in 2024, went on to take home five Oscars. Cannes top film in 2023, “Anatomy of a Fall”, later won one Academy Award. Its pick in 2019, “Parasite”, memorably became the first non-English-language film to win the best picture Oscar.
This year, U.S. director Wes Anderson will be launching his new movie “The Phoenician Scheme” which will be competing against independent films including the likes of Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” and Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha”.
Films screening outside the competition include the new “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”, as well as Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest”, starring Denzel Washington.
Hollywood’s travails might not be centre stage, but world politics has made it into the programme.
Three films about the war in Ukraine will be shown as part of a “Ukraine Day” event.
All screenings are sold out for “Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk”, which follows 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in April, one day after it was announced that the documentary had been chosen for the festival’s ACID programme.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala, Mike Davidson and Miranda Murray; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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