Cannes Film Festival readies a blockbuster edition, with Indy, ‘Flower Moon,’ Depp and more

The 76th Cannes Film Festival opens May 16 with the premiere of ‘Jeanne du Barry,’ a historical drama starring Johnny Depp

The Cannes Film Festival, which will kick off Tuesday, is such a colossal extravaganza that taking measure of its ups and downs is notoriously difficult. It’s a showcase of the world’s best cinema. It’s a red-carpet spectacular. It’s a French Riviera hive of dealmaking.

But by at least some metrics, Cannes — following a cancelled 2020 festival, a much-diminished 2021 edition and a triumphant 2022 return — is finally all the way back.

“Let’s just say it’s gotten very hard to get restaurant reservations again,” says Christine Vachon, the veteran producer and longtime collaborator of Todd Haynes.

When the 76th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the premiere of Jeanne du Barry, a historical drama by Maïwenn starring Johnny Depp, the gleaming Cote d’Azur pageant can feel confident that it has weathered the storms of the pandemic and the perceived threat of streaming. (Netflix and Cannes remain at an impasse.)

Last year’s festival, a banner one by most judgments, produced three Oscar best-picture nominees (Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis and the Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness ), again proving Cannes as the premiere global launching pad for films big and small.

A BLOCKBUSTER CANNES

This year’s festival is headlined by a pair of marquee premieres: Martin Scorsese’s Osage Nation 1920s epic Killers of the Flower Moon, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford in his final performance as the character.