Cannes Critic’s Take: From Martin Scorsese to Wes Anderson, This Year’s Lineup Is Faithful to Old Friends

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Fresh from his standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival for his latest film Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese has taken a tour of Italy, including a meeting with Pope Frances in the Vatican, where the Oscar winner also announced his plans to make a film about Jesus. 

The 76th Cannes Film Festival is wrapping up this evening with the main awards, including the Palme d’Or, to be handed out by Ruben Ostlund’s jury inside the Palais. Scroll down for the list of winners which is being updated as prizes are announced.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI – has teamed up with Rome-based Lucisano Media Group to acquire Italian rights from CAA Media Finance on Howard’s survival thriller penned by Noah Pink (“Tetris”) about a a group of eclectics who turn their backs on civilization and head to the Galapagos. In Cannes, RAI Cinema also picked up Italian rights from Gaumont on family movie “Moon The Panda,” by French humans and animals adventures specialist Gilles de Maistre, known for “Mia and the White Lion”and “The Wolf and the Lion.” De Maistre’s latest, about the friendship between a boy and a panda, is set to shoot later this month in China’s Sichuan mountains.

Scarlett Johansson and Maya Hawke showed off their unique senses of style while attending a photocall for their new movie Asteroid City at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday (May 24) in Cannes, France.

Johnny Depp Makes a Comeback (Kinda) Having scored a major victory after a Virginia court ruled in his favor in his defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp was hoping to use Cannes and the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry” as a launching pad for a return. And the results are … mixed. The crowd at the festival showered Depp with a seven-minute ovation on opening night.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer The upper deck at France’s Hotel Du-Cap-Eden-Roc offers a stunning coastal view of nearby city Cannes, the kind that Jay Gatsby would covet to peep Daisy Buchanan. On Tuesday, at one of the hottest parties at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, that view belonged to Graydon Carter. Standing alone with a female companion, the creator of the digital publication Air Mail and iconic former editor of Vanity Fair observed not a long-lost love but a cliffside full of movie stars, auteur directors and Hollywood power players. Carter’s Air Mail co-hosted an evening celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Warner Bros. Pictures, the latter represented by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and his top content lieutenants. Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Lily-Rose Depp, Sam Levinson, Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Rebel Wilson and more turned up to toast cinema and each other.

CANNES – For someone who is notoriously media-shy, Wes Anderson was in a delightful mood at the press conference for his new film, “Asteroid City.” And considering the star power alongside him on the dias, he dominated the conversation. Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise considering the power of his cinematic brand.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Wes Anderson’s 1950s-set “Asteroid City” takes place in a fictional desert town as a cosmic event disrupts the annual Junior Stargazer convention. But does the filmmaker actually believe in extraterrestrial life? “Well, you know… I wouldn’t rely on my opinions about that in any significant way,” Anderson said to laughter at Wednesday’s Cannes press conference for the film. “The research that went into this, as extensive as it was, it wasn’t anything you’d find in academia.” “Stephen Hawking insists it is numerically improbable that there would not be extraterrestrial life,” he continued, adding sheepishly, “I don’t really.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Martin Scorsese is executive producing “Escape,” the next film from Spanish writer-director Rodrigo Cortés, who burst onto the international scene directing Ryan Reynolds in the 2010 Sundance hit “Buried.” Set to go into production at the end of May, Cortés’ first Spanish-language film since his debut feature, 2007 madcap dark comedy “The Contestant,” “Escape” stars Mario Casas, a Spanish Academy Award Goya winner for 2020’s “Cross the Line.”  One of Spain’s biggest film-TV stars, Casas leads a top-notch Spanish cast in “Escape” which takes in Anna Castillo (“The Olive Tree,” “Holy Camp!”), José Garcia (“Bastille Day”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m So Excited”), Josep Maria Pou (“The Realm”), Blanca Portillo (“Maixabel”), and Jose Sacristán (“Velvet”).

So many stars stepped out to celebrate Warner Bros. Studios’ 100th Anniversary during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival!

for minutes of applause. So entrenched is this French farce that trade publications routinely time the euphoria and judge the response to the new films based on the length of the cheering at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Cannes’ longest-ever roar? Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which premiered there in 2006, at 22 minutes. This year’s fest is in full swing, and so is the ceaseless hand-slapping.Here are Cannes’ standing ovations so far, from triumphant to tepid.The most ecstatic response to a film so far at this year’s festival, which runs until May 27, was for Martin Scorsese’s latest drama. The historical movie from Apple and Paramount brings together two popular Scorsese stalwarts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, plus last year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons.

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City brought some mega-wattage to the Cannes Film Festival this evening, lighting up the Palais with what we clocked as a 6.5 minute standing ovation for the star-studded comedy.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Wes Anderson brought cowboys, aliens and movie stars to the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, earning a six-minute standing ovation at its world premiere. Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Matt Dillon, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Norton, Margot Robbie and Jeff Gollum are among the starry ensemble cast — many of whom were in attendance at the Grand Palais with their notoriously stylish and exacting director. The project tells of a desert tourist trap that was one the site of an asteroid landing, which also doubles as the location of an annual camp for “star gazers and space cadets.” The conceit is a story-within-a-story, as the the cast plays a troupe of actors and stage crew for a play.

Wes Anderson is a genre; one of decorative embellishment, ornamental whimsy, baroque fantasy, and symmetrical precision. It wasn’t always this way, and it’s also not just superficial embroidery.

Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, and Jane Campion’s The Piano.If you’re looking for the movies making a splash at this year’s festival, you can check out the biggest names and those running for the main prize below.Jeanne du BarryOpening this year’s festival is Jeanne du Barry, written, directed and produced by Maiwenn (Polisse). Its inclusion by the festival has sparked some controversy due to Johnny Depp, who plays King Louis XV in his first feature performance since winning his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon to Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.The biggest prize is the Palme d’Or, which was originally introduced in 1955. Past winners have included Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Jane Campion’s The Piano.This year’s festival runs from Tuesday May 16 to Saturday May 27.

Leonardo DiCaprio is keeping busy while attending the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s mk2 films is set to distribute internationally a collection of Martin Scorsese’s prestigious restored films from the World Cinema Project, which is part of his banner The Film Foundation. The World Cinema Project has so far restored 51 films from 29 different countries, representing the breadth and diversity of global cinema. Scorsese, one of the greatest living film legends whose latest movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, created The Film Foundation to raise awareness and funds for the preservation of our cinematic history. Since its formation, The Film Foundation has helped to preserve and restore over 1,000 films from every era and genre, ranging from features to documentaries, newsreels, shorts, home movies, experimental and silent films.

New dad Robert De Niro was off-duty this weekend while attending festivities at the Cannes Film Festival in France. In town to premiere his new film "Killers of the Flower Moon," De Niro made his red carpet debut with girlfriend Tiffany Chen. The couple recently welcomed their first child together, daughter Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, in what many found to be a surprise announcement.  De Niro wore a navy blue suit with a matching tie while Chen spotted a sparkly black gown and over-sized sunglasses.