Cannes ‘24 Predictions Include Lanthimos, Cronenberg, Coppola, Baker and Arnold

I’ve officially booked Cannes, and, because of that, curiosity got the better of me and these last 24 hours I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of emails, phone calls and research to figure out what might show up in the Main Competition slate for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

The truth is that Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux has barely sent out any official invitations to films yet. He’s still playing his cards close to his sleeve. For sure going are Lanthimos, Cronenberg, Arnold, Audiard and Serebrennikov. That’s pretty much all I’ve heard, so far.

Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” is being screened for Thierry Fremaux, but a Venice bow seems more likely for the film. Audrey Diwan’s “Emmanuelle” is also weighing its options, not having made a decision in terms of Cannes or Venice yet.

I’m hearing conflicting things about Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2.” Early word is good on Eastwood’s final film. Warner Bros. wants a fall bow to better maximize its awards prospects, but we shouldn’t scratch Cannes off either just yet, especially since Eastwood’s camp is leaning more towards the Croisette instead of the Lido.

Meanwhile, Francis Ford Coppla’s “Megalopolis” is inching more towards a Cannes debut, I’m told. The film is still in post-production. Whereas, Ali Abassi’s “The Apprentice,” about ‘70s and ‘80s Donald Trump, is rushing the editing stages to make it to the fest — it’s still a big question mark.

As for Mike Leigh, and contrary to some of the trades reporting, I’m not fully convinced “Hard Truths” has scratched off Cannes for Venice. If you remember, his last film, 2018’s “Peterloo,” was infamously rejected by Cannes and instead premiered on the Lido, with Leigh being outspoken about the decision. Some strategic games are being played here by Leigh and I’m not fairly sure what his end goal is.

Overall, after an incredible 2023 edition that included acclaimed works from Scorsese, Glazer, Triet, Haynes, Anderson, Rohrwacher, Kaurismaki, Wenders and Erice, Cannes 2024 will no doubt be affected by last year’s strikes as this year’s edition will have far fewer big filmmaking names to its roster. Instead, and this isn’t a bad thing, it could a Cannes all about surprises and breakouts.

The official lineup will be revealed in less than three weeks, on April 11. The 76th Cannes Film Festival is set to begin on May 14 until May 25.

Not including George Miller’s “Furiosa” playing out of competition, and other potential, not confirmed, big studio splashes (“Inside Out 2,” “Horizon,” “MaXXXine”), I’ve narrowed down the films into 22 major contenders to compete for the Palme d’Or — this is currently the best case scenario for the official competition. What do you think? Weak year? Strong year?

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds 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”
Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths”
Paolo Sorrentino’s “Partenhope”
Audrey Diwan’s “Emanuelle”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov”
Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End”
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”
Na Hong-jin‘s “Hope: Part One”
Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hands of Dante”
Guy Maddin’s “Rumors”
Karim Ainouz’s “Motel Destino”