Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux has promised “a raft of big stars” at its 78th edition in May, while acknowledging the challenges facing Hollywood and questions around its future.
Speaking to journalists after announcing his 2025 Official Selection in Paris on Thursday morning, Frémaux was replying to a question on whether the lineup offered the prospect of fewer Hollywood stars this year, even though names poised to hit the red carpet include Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone.
“There are a lot of American films, especially in Competition, since even the film by South African Oliver Hermanus is an American film,” he said.
“But it’s true — the question has been asked for the last two or three years, not only about the effect of external factors impacting the Hollywood industry such as the writers strike or the fires at the beginning of the year but also about the U.S. studios, and this is more at the interior of American cinema, questions about how the future is going to play out for them,” he continued.
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Frémaux added that American cinema still retained a historic place when it came to delivering blockbusters, citing the back-to-back success of Oppenheimer and Barbie in 2023.
“But when there are less of these sorts of film, that without a doubt leaves a mark on the Selection,” he added, noting that Cannes nonetheless had snagged the big blockbuster of the spring, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
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Quizzed on his reasons for inviting the film, Frémaux expressed his admiration for Christopher McQuarrie, likening him to Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut for the films he had made within the studio system.
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“Christopher McQuarrie in front of our eyes alongside Tom Cruise is a wonderful filmmaker, and I would love to talk to him about his work, about how he does this sort of film, his technique, but not only. Mission: Impossible is an incredible franchise … and it’s about cinema. I’m the kind of spectator who can love a radical Iranian film and a big mainstream film like Mission: Impossible,” he said.
“Of course, the film is Out of Competition. Remember with Top Gun, people told me three years ago, ‘Why is the film not in Competition?’ In a way they are right, but the studio didn’t want [that]. For the studio, it just needs to be a pleasure to be there. Big American films are a pure piece of cinema.”
Frémaux also addressed the record Oscar haul for the festival’s 2024 selection.
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“Was I able one year ago able to guess the destiny of Anora, Emilia Pérez or The Substance? … no. You never know. It’s why this game is so wonderful. It’s also why our games — I mean Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Telluride or Sundance — is something wonderful. It’s about art, it’s about reception, more than ever,” he said.
“I especially mention The Substance because of what we have done by putting it in Competition and not in a Midnight screening, which would have been easier in a way. What happened to The Substance was incredible. That is the power of Cannes, and we give this power to the artist.”
On whether he was feeling pressure over the awards potential of the 2025 Selection, Frémaux said every edition marks a new beginning, but he was confident about the festival’s recent track record.
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“If you look at the last seven, eight years, Cannes was great. I mean Cannes and the films of Cannes were great and awarded everywhere,” he said.
“For the films I have just announced this morning, I really don’t know, but what I’m really happy about is the link between Cannes in May and the Academy Awards in March. You can arrive in Cannes in May and be still alive in March almost one year later.”
He said it was a fact he wanted to press upon the U.S. studios, suggesting they still harbored fears about rolling out a film at the festival.
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“It is something we want the studios to understand. For them, there is still a risk in coming to Cannes, whether it’s showing a film three months before its release or it getting a bad reception. This is happening less now, and if I may say so, it’s because the selections are much better,” he said.
“Cannes is also a market. We have to launch the movie in the best position. Every producer wants Competition, but sometimes you can have a better destiny in Un Certain Regard, in Cannes Premieres, Midnight screenings. The consideration we must have is for all 60 movies and not only the 20 movies in Competition.”
Earlier, Frémaux unveiled a Selection heaving with emerging talent and just a smattering of Cannes regulars such as Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with Young Mothers.
One of the biggest surprises of the Selection was the decision to open with a first film — French filmmaker Amélie Bonnin’s Leave One Day – for the first time in the festival’s history.
Frémaux revealed that the selection committee had seen the film back in January but had to wait until it had screened all the French submissions before confirming its decision.
“As you know, the rule, in order to put everyone on an equal footing, is that we see all the French films and then make our decisions at the last minute, that is last night, and it ended at 1 a.m.,” he said.
“This film remained. It’s a choice we’re proud of. It’s a film peppered with French songs, first film by a female director, which I believe will delight people,” he continued. “It’s also a film that talks about the relationship between Paris and the provinces, our roots, what makes us, and in particular our youth and our parents.”