Hidden inside IndieWire’s recent interview with Nicolas Cage is the actor’s admittance that his critically-acclaimed 2021 film “Pig” was actually rejected by the Cannes Film Festival.
“When I saw the movie, initially I thought it would antithetical to the character for me to campaign,” he said. “But these people were a joy to work with. The movie came out in July and it didn’t get any love from the film festivals. [Cannes head] Thierry Fremaux said no, so I was like, ‘Let’s give this movie a little bit of attention so people may discover it because I think it’s worthy of that.’”
In the spring of 2021 I had been told that there was a very good chance that “Pig” would be at Cannes, possibly as an out-of-competition is entry. When the lineup was finally revealed and “Pig” was nowhere to be found I was somewhat surprised.
I’m not the biggest fan of Michael Sarnoski’s film, but it was very well-reviewed back in the summer of 2021. It also ended up on 162 critics top 10 lists, making it the 7th most listed film of the past year.