Perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood is official, as Wes Anderson’s long-awaited feature, “The French Dispatch,” has been confirmed as having its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Almost from the first moment that production began on “The French Dispatch,” fans speculated that Anderson was priming the feature for a Cannes debut. While Anderson isn’t someone that has frequent Cannes premieres, the last being in 2012 for “Moonrise Kingdom,” the subject of “The French Dispatch” being, well, journalists in France, seemed obvious for a festival debut at Cannes. And now, according to Variety, it’s happening.
Interestingly, the Cannes 2021 debut for Wes Anderson’s latest doesn’t come with an announcement about when we might see “The French Dispatch” arrive in theaters around the world. The film, like so many others, was ready for a 2020 release but was ultimately delayed due to the pandemic shutdowns of pretty much everything. While a summer debut (timed with the Cannes premiere) seems likely, at this point, Searchlight has yet to make it official. Though, we should fully expect a date soon enough.
Anderson’s latest features yet another star-studded cast for the director, led by names such as Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, and Timothée Chalamet. The film is said to take place over multiple time-frames with the cinematography switching between black-and-white and color.
“The French Dispatch” joins a small group of films that have already been confirmed for Cannes 2021. The other features include Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” and Leos Carax’s “Annette.” Though, it’s highly expected that we’ll see Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” as well as Tom McCarthy’s thriller “Stillwater,” which stars Matt Damon.
The 2021 Cannes Film Festival is expected to begin on July 6. Update: the film will also open in theaters on October 22, 2021, and will be part of the New York Film Festival.
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