Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux has promised “a raft of big stars” at its 78th edition in May, while discussing the challenges facing Hollywood and questions around its future.
Speaking to journalists after announcing his 2025 Official Selection in Paris, Frémaux was replying to a question on whether the line-up offered the prospect of fewer Hollywood stars this year, even though names include Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone.
“The question has been asked for the last two or three years, not only about the effect of external factors impacting the Hollywood industry – the writers’ strike or the fires, but also about the U.S. studios and this is more at the interior of American cinema, questions about how the future is going to play out for them.”
American cinema still retained historic place when it came to delivering blockbusters–he cited the back-to-back success of Oppenheimer and Barbie in 2023.
“But when there are less of these sorts of film, that without a doubt leaves a mark on the Selection,” noting that Cannes nonetheless had snagged the big blockbuster of the spring, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
“McQuarrie is a wonderful filmmaker and I would love to talk to him about his work, about how he does this sort of film, his technique, but not only. Mission: Impossible is an incredible franchise… and it’s about cinema.
I’m the kind of spectator who can love a radical Iranian film and a big mainstream film like Mission: Impossible,” he said.
Cannes Oscar Record
Frémaux also addressed the record Oscar haul for the festival’s 2024 selection.
“Was I able one year ago able to guess the destiny of Anora, Emilia Pérez or The Substance? … No. You never know. It’s why this game is so wonderful. It’s also why Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Telluride or Sundance is something wonderful. It’s about art, it’s about reception,” he said.
“I especially mention The Substance because what we have done by putting it in competition and not in a Midnight screening, which would have been easier in a way. What happened to The Substance was incredible. That is the power of Cannes, and we give this power to the artist.”
“If you look at the last seven, eight years, Cannes was great. I mean the films of Cannes were great and awarded everywhere,” he said.
“For the films I have just announced, I really don’t know but what I’m really happy about is the link between Cannes in May and the Oscar Awards in March. You can arrive in Cannes in May and be still alive in March almost one year later.
It was a fact he wanted to press upon the U.S. studios, suggesting they still harbored fears about rolling out a film at the festival.
“It is something we want the studios to understand. For them, there is still a risk in coming to Cannes, whether it’s showing a film three months before its release or it getting a bad reception. This is happening less now, and if I may say so it’s because the selections are much better,” he said.
Frémaux unveiled a selection heaving with emerging talent and just a smattering of Cannes regulars such as the Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s with Young Mothers.
Leave One Day
One of the biggest surprises of the Selection was the decision to open with first film – French filmmaker Amélie Bonnin ‘s Leave One Day – for the first time in the festival’s history.
The selection committee had seen the film back in January but had to wait until it had screened all the French submissions before its decision.
“The rule, in order to put everyone on an equal footing, is that we see all the French films and then make our decisions at the last minute, that is last night, and it ended at 1:00 a.m.,” he said.
“This film remained. It’s a choice we’re proud of. It’s a film peppered with French songs, first film by a female director, which I believe will delight people,” he continued. “It’s also a film that talks about the relationship between Paris and the provinces, our roots, what makes us, and in particular our youth and our parents.”
