Cannes Festival 2024: Rumours and predictions, the films expected to be selected

The Cannes Film Festival 2024 is fast approaching! With the 77th edition of the cinema world's most important annual event set to take place from Tuesday May 14 to Saturday May 25, it's more than ever time for rumors and predictions about the films that might be selected by Thierry Frémaux, the Festival's general delegate.

As we await the customary press conference on April 11, which should announce the films in competition in the Official Selection as well as the works presented out of competition, the new releases unveiled in Cannes Première, the films (often genre films) in the Midnight screenings and, of course, the short and feature-length films competing in the Un Certain Regard selection, a veritable antechamber to the Official Selection, we take stock of the rumours from the corridors!

These films will have to dazzle the festival's various jurors, in particular Greta Gerwig, president of the jury for this 77th edition, but also Xavier Dolan, president of Un Certain Regard, and Lukas Dhont, president of the Queer Palm jury. Please note that the selections for the parallel competitions ( Semaine de la Critique, Quinzaine des Cinéastes andACID) will be announced at a later date.

The selection below would, in short, be our ideal selection. But the films still have to be ready in time... Let's indulge in a little dreaming, with around twenty French films, thirty international films and filmmakers more or less familiar with the festival who could well be present at Cannes 2024!

• To be read
• Cannes Festival 2024: Xavier Dolan to head the Un Certain Regard jury
• May 2025 cinema releases: Films and times near you
• 5 films to see this Easter Monday to make the most of the bank holiday

International films that could be selected for Cannes 2024:

• Mad Max Furiosa by George Miller. The long-awaited prequel to Mad Max Fury Road - which itself turned the Croisette upside down when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Featuring Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role and Chris Hemsworth, Furiosa will be released in cinemas on May 22, 2024.

• Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola. The project of a lifetime, that of FFC. The story of an architect trying to create a utopia in New York, after a disaster that devastates the city. A work of science fiction with a budget of over 100 million dollars, and a crazy cast: Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburn and Forest Whitaker.

• David Cronenberg's The Shrouds, starring Vincent Cassel as a widowed businessman who finds a way to communicate with the dead, including his wife. Although Léa Seydoux had been considered for the role, Diane Kruger was finally cast alongside Viggo Mortensen.
  
  
• Juror #2 by Clint Eastwood. The 93-year-old filmmaker may take advantage of the 2024 edition of the Cannes Film Festival to present his latest film (and also the last film of his career), Juror #2. The synopsis is tantalizing: A man finds himself a juror in a murder trial, only to discover that he was behind the crime. He faces a moral dilemma between protecting himself and turning himself in. Scheduled for release in autumn.

• Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez tells the story of a Mexican drug trafficker's sex change to avoid prosecution. A musical comedy starring Karla Sofia Gascon, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez.

• Kinds of Kindness by Yórgos Lánthimos. A sketch film starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Hunter Schafer that will be, according to the director, "a contemporary film, set in the United States, three different stories, with four or five actors playing a given role in each story." With the film's release announced for June 21, there's a good chance it'll be at Cannes!

• Polaris by Lynne Ramsay. Joaquin Phoenix reunites with the director, 7 years after A Beautiful Day. He plays a photographer who encounters the devil in Alaska at the end of the 19th century. Rooney Mara also stars.

• Limonov, The Ballad of Eddie by Kirill Serebrennikov. A film about the life of Soviet writer and political dissident Eduard Limonov (played by Ben Whishaw), based on the novel Liminov by Emmanuel Carrère.

• Terrence Malick'sThe Way of Wind. A film retracing several major episodes in the life of Christ, shooting began in 2019 (!) and could finally see the light of day in 2024. No wonder the filmmaker has announced that he has shot over 3,000 hours of rushes (!). The cast includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Kingsley and Joseph Fiennes.

• Queer by Luca Guadagnino, adapted from the novel by William S. Burroughs. Lee (played by Daniel Craig) recounts his life in Mexico City among expatriate American students. He pursues a young man named Allerton, inspired by Adelbert Lewis Marker, a U.S. Navy serviceman. Queer could be presented at Cannes a month after the French release of Challengers, the Italian director's previous film.
  
  
• Baby Invasion by Harmony Korine. Rumor has it that Harmony Korine will unveil his new feature film, Baby Invasion, at the Cannes Midnight Screening. It's said to be an invasion film shot in subjective camera, from the point of view of the invaders. "It's going to be close to a horror movie in a way, it's going to look like an interactive shooting game, with GoPro and security camera footage," detailed the American director. Intriguing...

• Blitz by Steve McQueen. The director of Hunger, Shame and Twelve Years a Slave is back with a new film, Blitz, which tells the story of Londoners who suffer the bombing of their city during the Second World War. However, with Apple TV+ having acquired distribution rights, the film starring Saoirse Ronan may not be selected for Cannes.

• Chocobar by Lucrecia Martel. A regular at the Cannes Film Festival, Lucrecia Martel is back for the third time to present a film. For her sixth feature, the Argentinian director has chosen to tackle the documentary genre, following an indigenous community expelled from their land and the journey of an indigenous activist, Javier Chocobar.

• Maria by Pablo Larrain, the biopic of Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie. The tumultuous, beautiful and tragic life story of the world's greatest opera singer, recreated during her final days in 1970s Paris.

• Hope by Na Hong-Jin. Almost 10 years after The Strangers, Na Hong-Jin could be back at Cannes with Hope, a thriller starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The synopsis is still shrouded in mystery: A mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the port town of Hopo Port. The inhabitants struggle for survival...

• Anora by Sean Baker. Selected in the past for the Quinzaine des Cinéastes (still called Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) and in official competition, the director of The Florida Project has shot a new feature, Anora, about a sex worker's journey between New York and Las Vegas.

• MaXXXine by Ti West. We're also looking forward to the final part of the trilogy, produced by A24 and starring Mia Goth.

• Nosferatu by Robert Eggers. The long-awaited remake of Murnau's Nosferatu by the director of the excellent The Witch and The Lighthouse. A gothic horror film starring Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp.

• Minotauro, Picasso y las mujeres del Guernica by Julio Medem. Spring 1937. In a tormented relationship with three women and while Spain is experiencing its first year of civil war, Pablo Picasso (played by Pablo Derqui) paints a picture commissioned by the government of the Spanish Republic for the Paris International Exhibition: his Guernica.

• Touda by Nabil Ayouch. The Franco-Moroccan director has finished shooting his new film, Touda, which tells the story of a sheikha passionate about her art, who fights to ensure a better future for her deaf-mute son. Post-production should be completed in time for the festival.

• We Shall Be All by Jia Zhangke. Eleven years after winning the Prix du Scénario for A Touch of Sin, the Chinese director's new film could well be presented at this year's Croisette.

• Bi Gan'sResurrection. Another Chinese director could be on board, Bi Gan with his new project Resurrection. A sci-fi thriller starring actress Shu Qi and singer Jackson Yee. The synopsis is intriguing: A woman is catapulted into a post-apocalyptic future, where she seeks to repair a half-robot, half-human man, metaphorically recounting parts of Chinese history.

• The Apprentice by Ali Abbasi. About the life and work of Donald Trump (played by Sebastian Stan) in the 70s and 80s, when he was a real-estate entrepreneur in New York.

• The Way of the Serpent by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The remake of his own 1998 film, starring Damien Bonnard.

• Longlegs by Oz Perkins. A horrific thriller in which Nicolas Cage plays a serial killer hunted down by an FBI agent played by Maika Monroe (discovered by the general public in It Follows... whose sequel They Follow, still directed by David Robert Mitchell, is in the pipeline with no known release date, to our great despair).

• Death of a Unicorn by Alex Scharfman. The story is intriguing: Elliot and his teenage daughter Ridley accidentally run over a unicorn. The family, owners of a pharmaceutical lab, soon get hold of this magical creature and their scientists discover that its flesh, blood and, above all, its horn are endowed with supernatural healing properties. The cast of this Ari Aster-produced film includes Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, with John Carpenter providing the music, no less!

• Opus by Mark Anthony Green. A horror film produced by A24, starring John Malkovich, about the return of a pop star after a decades-long disappearance. We'd love to see it selected for Critics' Week!

French films that could be selected for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival:

• Emmanuelle by Audrey Diwan. A French director for a film with an international cast! Noémie Merlant stars in this remake of the erotic film of the same name, alongside Naomi Watts.

• L'amour ouf by Gilles Lellouche. Adapted from the novel by Neville Thompson, Gilles Lellouche's film is eagerly awaited, with a quality cast including François Civil, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Alain Chabat, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Élodie Bouchez, Raphaël Quenard, Karim Leklou, Jean-Pascal Zadi... We can already imagine a 3-star staircase.

• A notre beau métier by Quentin Dupieux. He's unstoppable! Every year, a new film from France's craziest director. This time, it's a meta-film with a mise en abyme of actors confronting their characters and their lines, starring Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Raphaël Quenard and Louis Garrel.

• Spectateurs! by Arnaud Desplechin. The filmmaker is still the one who speaks best about this film: "What's it like to go to the movies? Why have we been going for over 100 years? I wanted to celebrate cinemas and their magic. So I followed the path of the young Paul Dédalus, like a spectator's apprenticeship novel. We blended memories, fiction and investigations... A torrent of images that sweeps us away." He reunites with Mathieu Amalric, who reprises the role of Paul Dédalus.

• Nos enfants après eux by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma. The long-awaited adaptation of the Prix Goncourt 2018 by the Boukherma siblings, starring Gilles Lellouche, Paul Kircher and Anaïs Demoustier. Scheduled for cinema release on September 18.

• Monsieur Aznavour by Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir. The film, to be released on October 23, 2024, will trace the rise of the singer of La Bohème from the 1950s onwards, with Tahar Rahim in the title role.

• Michel Hazanavicius's Most Valuable Commodity. The director of OSS 117 turns his hand to animation, adapting Claude Grumberg's novel about a little Jewish girl whose father rescues her from a train bound for the concentration camps, and who is subsequently raised by a Polish woodcutter.

• C'est pas moi by Leos Carax. A free-format self-portrait that revisits over 40 years of the auteur's filmography, questioning the major milestones in his life and capturing the political upheavals of the time. With Denis Lavant as Monsieur Merde, of course.

• Les femmes au balcon by Noémie Merlant. For her second feature (after Mi iubita mon amour, presented in a special screening at Cannes 2021), the young director opts for a most tantalizing horror-comedy, co-written with Céline Sciamma. Three women in a Marseille apartment in the middle of a heat wave. Opposite them, their mysterious neighbor, the object of all their fantasies. They find themselves caught up in a terrifying and delirious affair.

• Marcello Mio by Christophe Honoré. Chiara Mastroianni, surrounded on all sides by the figure of her father, decides to bring him back to life through her. She calls herself Marcello, dresses like him and insists on being considered an actor. All around her, people think it's a temporary joke, but Chiara is determined not to give up her new identity...

• Quand vient l'automne by François Ozon. Michelle (Hélène Vincent) is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village with her long-time friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko). She's looking forward to her grandson Lucas spending the school vacations with her, but things don't go according to plan.

• Miséricorde by Alain Guiraudie. Thirtysomething Jérémie returns to Saint-Martial in the Massif Central to attend the funeral of an old friend. In this unspoken village, he comes face to face with rumors and suspicions, until he commits the irreparable and finds himself at the heart of a police investigation. Catherine Frot plays one of the leading roles!

• Le Roman de Jim by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu. The Larrieu brothers adapt the novel by Pierric Bailly, starring Karim Leklou, Laetitia Dosch, Sara Giraudeau and Bertrand Belin.

• Sang craché des lèvres belles by Jean-Charles Hue. After Mange tes Morts and Tijuana Bible, Jean-Charles Hue could return to the Cannes Film Festival with his new film starring Alma Rechtman, Brigitte Sy and Frédéric Dorkel, Jean-Charles Hue's favorite actor.

• Maldoror by Fabrice Du Welz. A film freely inspired by the Marc Dutroux affair, with a fine cast for this dramatic story: Anthony Bajon, Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas, Béatrice Dalle, Mélanie Doutey and Jackie Berroyer. The Belgian director has been to Cannes several times, presenting his film Calvaire, selected for Critics' Week in 2004, and Alleluia, selected for the Quinzaine des Cinéastes ten years later.

• Paradis Paris by Marjane Satrapi. Expected in cinemas on June 12, 2024, the Franco-Iranian filmmaker's latest work is a darkly humorous film in which each of the protagonists comes face-to-face with death. The cast includes Monica Bellucci, André Dussollier and Roschdy Zem.

• Emmanuel Mouret'sLes Trois Amies. Three women's paths cross, and three talented French actresses - Camille Cottin, Sara Forestier and India Hair - are accompanied by Damien Bonnard. The director may well return to Cannes, 10 years after the selection of his second feature, Vénus et Fleur, then in competition at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes.

• Les Barbares by Julie Delpy. In the heart of a small Breton village, the municipality decides to take in a family of Ukrainian refugees. Except that the refugees who arrive are not Ukrainian, but Syrian... As is often the case in her films, the director stars alongside Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte and India Hair (her again!).

• Maria by Jessica Palud. The biopic on the life of Maria Schneider, adapted from the book Tu t'appelais Maria Schneider by Vanessa Schneider. Anamaria Vartolomei plays the French actress who was crushed by her role in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris.