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| Newcomer Ruby Barnhill plays Sophie, an imaginative little girl who befriends Spielberg’s giant |
Although the full programme details will not be revealed and confirmed in Paris until 14 April, already the rumour mill is in full production about the line-up for this year’s 69th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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| Woody Allen… back on the Croisette for Café Society Photo: Richard Mowe |
The Stars and Stripes will be fluttering strongly over the Croisette with (suggest informed sources) an out-of competition premiere for Steven Spielberg’s new film The BFG (the Big Friendly Giant), an adaptation of the work of Roald Dahl. The production marks the Bridge Of Spies director’s first collaboration with Disney and his first live action family adventure movie since 1991’s Hook. Spielberg was last in Cannes in 2008 for the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The Big Friendly Giant is played by Oscar-winning Bridge Of Spies star Mark Rylance and newcomer Ruby Barnhill plays Sophie, an imaginative little girl who befriends the BFG. The film is due for a US release on 1 July.
One of Cannes’ favourites, Woody Allen, looks likely also to be out of competition with Café Society, featuring Kirsten Stewart, Blake Lively, Jesse Eisenberg and Steve Carrell. His most recent outings on the Riviera were for Midnight In Paris and Irrational Man.
Another out of competition slot beckons for Julia Roberts and George Clooney in political thriller Money Monster, directed by Jodie Foster, while a Midnight Special slot seems entirely appropriate for Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe and Kim Basinger for Nice Guys, directed by Shane (Iron Man 3) Black. Crowe and Gosling play two private detectives investigating the suicide of a starlet.
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| Charlize Theron and Sean Penn in The Last Face |
Charlize Theron and Sean Penn may no longer be an item, but it is suggested they will get back together again on the red carpet for the premiere of The Last Face (a likely Competition entry) which features Penn as a doctor working for a humanitarian cause in Africa who falls for one of his colleagues. Adèle Exarchopoulos (from Blue Is The Warmest Colour) and veteran Jean Reno also figure in the cast.
Jeff (Midnight Special) Nichols looks likely to present Loving (also in Competition) with Joel Egerton, Ruth Nega and Michael Shannon, about a mixed race couple forced to live in exile in Virginia in 1958.
Although there had been high hopes that Martin Scorsese might be present for Silence with Liam Neeson, it now seems certain that he will not have finished shooting in time for Cannes but it does seem likely that Terrence Malick (Palme d’Or winner in 2011 with The Tree of Life) will have a documentary to offer for the array.
The Cannes Film Festival 2016 runs from 11 to 22 May. Richard Mowe will contribute full coverage to Eye For Film.
