I always look forward to Variety’s Cannes spitball, especially since it comes to us from well-informed France-based insider Elsa Keslassy.
We learn that Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” is locked for competition. The film stars Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, and Charlotte Rampling. This is set to be Jarmusch’s ninth title to compete for the Palme d’Or — he’s never won the big prize.
“Father Mother Sister Brother” tells three separate stories set in different countries and revolving around relationships between adults, children, their somewhat distant parents and each other. The first part, “Father,” is set in the east coast in Northeastern U.S., “Mother” in Dublin, and “Sister Brother” in Paris.
Most likely joining Jarmusch in competition will be filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Joachim Trier, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Kirill Serebrennikov and Wes Anderson.
According to Keslassy, only a handful of titles have so far been confirmed for competition — no doubt due to this year’s heavy traffic of A-list filmmakers vying for a slot to compete for the Palme d’Or.
Luca Guadagnino’s thriller “After the Hunt,” with Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, has a fall release date, but could still bow at Cannes according to the intel. Guadagnino’s been a fixture of Venice for well over 10 years and has never had one of his films on the croisette. Maybe this’ll be his year.
According to Keslassy, films not going to Cannes include Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia,” Paul Greengrass’ “The Lost Bus,” Celine Song’s “Materialists,” Romain Gavras’“Sacrifice,” Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hand of Dante,” and Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine.”
Of note, contrary to what THR reported earlier in the week, Nicolas Winding Refn’s “The Avenging Silence” hasn’t even started shooting. Another one to scratch off this year.
MY CANNES COMPETITION PREDICTIONS
Die, My Love (Lynne Ramsay)
Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch)
The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson)
The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)
Eddington (Ari Aster)
No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook)
The Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick)
Highest 2 Lowest (Spike Lee)
Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)
The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendoca Filho)
Young Mothers (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)
Orphan (Laszlo Nemes)
Yes! (Nadav Lapid)
Disappearance (Kirill Serebrenikkov)
Miroirs No. 3 (Christian Petzold)
The Love That Remains (Hlynur Pálmason)
The Doctor Says I’ll Be Alright (Mascha Schilinski)
Private Life (Rebecca Zlotowski)
Two Prosecutors (Sergei Loznitsa)
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)
Calle Malaga (Maryam Touzani)
Unidentified (Haifaa Al-Mansour)
Furio (Mario Martone)
Silent Friend (Ildiko Enyedi)
Duse (Pietro Marcello)
Woman And Child (Saeed Roustaee)
Resurrection (Bi Gan)
Rosebushpruning (Karim Aïnouz)
The Magnificent Life of Sylvain Pagnol (Sylvain Chomet)
Dossier 173 (Dominik Moll)
Une Affaire (Arnaud Desplechin)
Enzo (Robin Campillo)
Stitches (Alice Wincour)
Eagles of the Relublic (Tarik Saleh)
Tu ne fera point d’image (Kaouther Ben Hania)
Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
L’interet D’Adam (Laura Wandel)
Romería (Carla Simon)
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.