Deadline Spitballs Cannes 2024 — No McQueen, Guadagnino, Larrain and Leigh

Deadline is now pouring some cold water on some of the films initially suspected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

There had been anticipation that Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” might go there, but it looks like a fall launch is now being eyed for the WWII epic. Surprising, considering that Fremaux and McQueen were both on stage, just a year ago, declaring their hopes to have the film premiere at Cannes.

A few weeks ago, I was told that Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” had been submitted for Cannes. It looks like it might not show up after all and instead opt for a Venice bow. Was it rejected? I read the script for this one and it’s nothing to write home about. At least they’re insinuating that George Miller’s “Furiosa” will most likely be there. That was obvious.

No word yet as to where Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kind of Kindness” shows up. The movie is still in post and remains in contention for both Cannes and Venice, though the success of “Poor Things” at the latter might result in the film skipping the Croisette for the Lido. Deadline says that no decision has yet to be made by Searchlight.

The report adds that we might have to scratch off Pablo Larrain’s “Maria", Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” and Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.” Is Leigh still bitter at Cannes for rejecting 2018’s “Peterloo”? As for the others, they always seemed like longshots.

Now that the picture is, slightly, clearer, here are the films I’m predicting to be in contention for a competition slot, as of 02.29.24. Last year’s lineup was one of the best in recent memory, and it does look as though the strikes, and the consequent delay in productions, will have affected the 2024 edition. Still, there’s a lot to look forward to:

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kind of Kindness”
Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis”
David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds”
Sean Baker’s “Anora”
Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”
Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez”
Paolo Sorrentino’s “Partenhope”
Audrey Diwan’s “Emanuelle”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov”
Lucrecia Martel’s “Chocobar”
Michel Franco’s “Dreams”
Arnaud Desplechin’s “Spectateurs”
Ali Abassi’s “The Apprentice”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Serpent’s Path”
Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “Those Who Find Me”
Francois Ozon’s “Quand Vient L’Automne”
Alain Guiraudie’s “Miséricorde”
George Miller’s “Furiosa”
Na Hong-jin‘s “Hope: Part One”
Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End“
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Harvest”
Leos Carax’s “C’est Pas Moi”
Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hands of Dante”
Guy Maddin’s “Rumors”
Baltasar Kormákur’s “Touch”
Carlos Reygadas’ “Wake of Umbra”
Justin Kurzel’s “The Order”
Edward Berger’s “Conclave”
Peter Greenaway’s “Lucca Mortis”
Christophe Honore’s “Summer Boy”
Emmanuel Mouret’s “Une honnête femme”
Karim Ainouz’s “Rosebushpruning”
Xavier Beauvois’ “La Vallée des Fous”
Patricia Mazuy’s “Alma et Mina”
Robert Guedignan‘s “La Pie Voleuse”
Kevin Costner’s “Horizon“
Noémie Merlant’s “The Balconettes”
Babak Anvari’s “Hallow Road”

Press accreditations are currently open for the 2024 edition of the fest which is set to take place May 14-May 25. As with every month, I’ll continue to update my predictions.