The Cannes Film Festival will reveal its 2025 lineup on Thursday morning European time and expectations are high for a typically bountiful lineup of starry fare and arthouse treats. Cannes remains the Super Bowl for indie film lovers.
It’s always a nervous waiting game for those connected to Cannes hopefuls. Multiple festival regulars have told us that selectors are later than ever in giving them notice. The festival has often announced a major movie or two by now but not this year. The identity of Juliette Binoche’s fellow jury members are still also under wraps.
In terms of films in the running, much of the reporting we did in February in our Cannes and Venice prediction piece has either come to pass or is shaping up as we forecast. You can read that story here.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning remains the most likely big studio splash. We’ve had strong hints from sources that it’s going to Cannes and we’d be shocked at this stage if it wasn’t there. Despite the studio not confirming its inclusion yet, sources close to the project have done nothing to dispel the notion that it will launch on the Croisette and Cruise is due in London the day before Cannes gets underway to collect a BFI honor. The film’s May 21 French launch date is during the second week of the festival and Cruise and Paramount previously had a great time of it on the Riviera with Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise, Vanessa Kirby, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames are among stars who could tread the carpet for the film. The trailer dropped today.
One high-profile film that has seemingly been confirmed for a slot somewhere in the selection is Ari Aster’s starry A24 movie Eddington. DP Darius Khonji revealed this weekend that he is finishing off coloring ahead of a Cannes berth.
Among other films we’d be surprised not to see somewhere in the Cannes lineup — ie not all in Competition, but spread across the whole program — are Jim Jarmusch’s Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, the Dardenne brothers’ Young Mothers, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Disappearance Of Joseph Mengele and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. We’ve heard that Fatih Akin’s Amrum with Diane Kruger will likely play somewhere in the selection, while thirteen of Arnaud Desplechin’s fourteen films to date have debuted on the Croisette and latest An Affair seems all but nailed on. Richard Linklater’s anticipated Nouvelle Vague, about the production of Jean-Luc Godards’s cinematic classic Breathless, is expected at the festival and there would be few more fitting films. Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor The Great, Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut Urchin, Ildiko Enyedi’s The Silent Friend, Harry Lighton’s Pillion and Andrew Dominik’s Apple documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender are also anticipated.
As we previously revealed, a fresh voice to look out for is Germany’s Mascha Schilinski, whose sophomore feature spanning four generations is currently titled The Doctor Says I’ll Be Alright, But I’m Feelin’ Blue. The film is understood to have impressed greatly and there have been whispers it’ll play in Competition.
Meanwhile, other buzzy fare to have been speculated include Spike Lee’s Kurosawa update Highest 2 Lowest, Lazlo Nemes’ Orphan, Alice Winocour’s Couture, Rebecca Zlotowski’s Vie Privée (could this be the opener? Or the Wes Anderson?), Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut The Chronology Of Water, Oliver Hermanus’ The History Of Sound with Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal, Raoul Peck’s documentary Orwell, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, Karim Aïnouz’ Rosebush Pruning, Mario Martone’s Fuori, Na Hong-Jin’s Hope, Saeed Roustaee’s Woman and Child, Maryam Touzani’s Calle Malaga, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent and Lav Diaz’s Gael García Bernal film about explorer Ferdinand Magellan. We hear that Lynne Ramsay’s new film Die, My Love, which has Scorsese among its producers, may not be ready in time to be announced at Thursday’s presser but could potentially be added at a later date.
Among those that would make sense for Cannes Classics or special screenings are all-time greats such as Jaws and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, both of which are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.
The status of both Cannes and Venice as awards launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals. Five of this year’s Best Picture hopefuls started at the two festivals with Cannes titles Anora and Emilia Perez and Venice entry The Brutalist dominating this year’s U.S. awards scene. Juliette Binoche will serve as Cannes Competition jury president this year.
On Thursday, be sure to check back to Deadline for our live coverage of the lineup and all the analysis.
Melanie Goodfellow contributed to this report.
