‘May December’ Stars Natalie Portman & Julianne Moore Talk Unfair Expectations On Women “Even At Cannes”; Todd Haynes Quips On Macron — Cannes

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday. Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Variety‘s critics pick the most notable dozen. Distributor: Neon One of seven women filmmakers in competition, Justine Triet has taken a familiar genre (the court- room drama) and turned it on its head. A frustrated writer dies of suspicious causes, leaving behind clues that implicate his wife (Sandra Hüller).

“Perfect Days” makes a perfect debut.PERFECT DAYS. Did Wim Wenders just make his best film since UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD? Holy crap.Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” was the hero of the day, earning strong notices and the now-standard standing ovation.

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.

CANNES – It was a warm afternoon on la Croisette when Todd Haynes sat down to chat about his celebrated new drama, “May December.” The Killer Films produced project still hadn’t been acquired yet (Netflix picked up North American rights for a reported $11 million), but the “Carol” auteur was in good spirits. Maybe he’d read the reviews.

Yesterday we told you that Netflix has picked up Todd Haynes’ latest Cannes Competition title, May December, and it looks like the filmmaker has already lined up his next project.

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.

Natalie Portman has called out “the different” ways men and women are still expected to act in society and at events like the Cannes Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: After an old-style all night auction, Netflix is finalizing an $11M deal for North American rights to May December, the Todd Haynes-directed drama that stars Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. It is far and away the big deal of Cannes so far, and a deal of this size ought to send a jolt of optimism that the North American marketplace for Cannes films is still alive and well, after a slow start here.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Netflix landed North American rights for “May December,” a soapy romantic-drama directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, which debuted at Cannes Film Festival. It sold for $11 million, marking the first big sale of this year’s festival. Several bidders, including Neon, were in the mix before Netflix emerged victorious. The streamer hopes to position “May December” as an Oscar contender in the fall. A scandalous age-gap relationship plays out at the center of “May December,” which debuted on Saturday to raves and earned a six-minute standing ovation. Moore plays the “December” to Charles Melton’s much-younger “May,” who was just 13 when the two fell in love. Given their 20-year age gap, their marriage inspired a national tabloid scandal. Decades later, their relationship is put to the test as an actress (Portman) travels to Georgia to study the life of Moore’s character, whom she’s set to play in a film.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Jessica Hausner, the director of the supremely audacious and disturbing eating-disorder thriller “Club Zero” (yes, I used the words “eating disorder” and “thriller” in the same sentence — that’s the kind of boundary-smashing movie this is), has the potential to be an important filmmaker. Her last movie, “Little Joe” (2019), a sci-fi creep-out about a sinister strain of houseplant, was really a dark-as-midnight parable of the psychotropic-drug era. “Club Zero” won’t be for everyone, but Hausner, channeling some combination of Hitchcock and Cronenberg and “Village of the Damned” and the Todd Haynes of “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story,” has now made an even more gripping and provocative mind-fuck.

Coming into Cannes 2023, there was a lot of discussion about Todd Haynes’ new dramedy, “May December.” Haynes is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers working today and his latest stars none other than Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, two of the most respected actors in the world. It appears, judging by early reviews, “May December” delivers the goods and is likely going to be in the mix come awards season.

Cannes Film Festival came to a close on Sunday, and it’s been a time of exhilarating highs coupled with very quiet low days. Where Martin Scorsese and Todd Haynes can have their latest films debut back-to-back and a Sunday that feels incredibly silent by comparison.

Todd Haynes is having a great Cannes, isn’t he? His new film, “May December,” has earned rave reviews (including our own), with folks already predicting Oscars love. And now, it appears he has nothing but amazing projects to talk about coming in the future, including a new film with Joaquin Phoenix.

There’s trouble in the paradise of Savannah, Georgia, where the skeins of Spanish moss-draped over corridors of trees wave in the gentle coastal zephyrs with each night’s picture-perfect sunset. Spouses Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) have opened their palatial home for a backyard BBQ; he’s manning the grill, and she’s darting about trying to make everything just right, each well aware of their role to play.

CANNES – Perhaps it was the fact we’ve reached the halfway point of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and the media have reached an inevitable breaking point with lack of sleep. Or maybe it was the often (but not talways) demure personalities of “May December’s” Oscar-winning stars, Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter A scandalous age-gap relationship plays out at the center of “May December,” which debuted on Saturday to raves at the Cannes Film Festival. In the starry romantic drama directed by Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore plays the “December” to Charles Melton’s much-younger “May,” whose character was just 13 when the two fell in love. It’s a complicated dynamic, Moore admits, because of the time in their lives when they first met. “An age gap is one thing, but a relationship between an adult and a child is a different thing entirely,” Moore said at Sunday’s press conference for “May December,” which was embraced in the Grand Palais the day prior with an enthusiastic six-minute standing ovation.

May December co-stars Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore were joined by producer Will Ferrell when they walked the red carpet at the movie’s premiere during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on Saturday (May 20) at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.

Todd Haynes has a way with female stars. I would even call him the new-age George Cukor in that regard. Whether in Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, or his HBOlimited series Mildred Pierce with Kate Winslet, or his homage to the director of so many so-called “women’s pictures” of the ’50s Douglas Sirk in Far From Heaven with Julianne Moore, he seems to be in his comfort zone with women. That has never been more apparent than his latest, May December, a deliciously entertaining showcase for Natalie Portman and Moore (her and Haynes’ fourth film together), which just had its world premiere Saturday in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Cate Blanchett kicked off her stilettos on Friday night as she took the stage a Cannes Film Festival party hosted by Variety and the Golden Globes. Because this is Cannes, where women are mandated to wear heels on the red carpet, shoes have become a political symbol on the French Riviera. And indeed, in this case, Blanchett went barefoot to make a statement — to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran. The A-list actor, on hand to present “Holy Spider” star Zahra Amir Ebrahim with a breakthrough artists award, grabbed the trophy and joked, “This is to stab everyone who stands in the way of women’s rights. Up the vajayjay!” In her remarks, an emotional Ebrahimi called attention to her home country, which is “executing innocent people.” She said, “I always thought being an actress was a paradox: serving the emotions of your own and being a flag or mirror or light. This award celebrates this paradox.”