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James Mottram

So Cannes has been canned.
Even the world’s most famous film festival is not immune to the impact of the coronavirus, and this week artistic director Thierry Frémaux admitted that “a physical edition” in 2020 will be nigh-on impossible.
But what of the selected films?
Frémaux has promised to publish a list of those chosen in June, but he is already revealed the titles of five, whose prospects are now uncertain without that all-important Cannes opening.

1. Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee would have been the first black president of the Cannes festival jury this year – and he was also bringing his latest film to show out of competition.
Starring Chadwick Boseman, it tells of four African-American veterans who travel to Vietnam years after the war. After a two-year absence, it would also have marked a return to the Croisette for the film’s backer Netflix after its clash with the festival over its theatrical release policy in France.
‘Go big’: Mel Gibson recalls making Braveheart 25 years ago
Da 5 Bloods will still debut in June on the streaming platform – meaning it is likely to be one of the most watched films of Lee’s career.
Release date: June 12


2. The French Dispatch 
Wes Anderson has Cannes form – 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom opened the festival. And this Paris-set comedy, centred on an American literary magazine, was tailor-made for Cannes, and with a red carpet-ready roster of stars: Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet.
Originally due for a July release, it’s now been moved to October, making a festival appearance in Venice and/or Toronto possible. It should still enjoy high-profile exposure, albeit in a far more crowded autumn marketplace as delayed titles jostle for attention.
Release date: October 16


3. Soul 
Cannes loves Pixar, having given premieres to Up and Inside Out previously, and Soul was destined to be one of the festival’s must-see titles.
Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, this story of a jazz teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who loses his passion for music is now likely to bypass the festival circuit, with Disney shifting its release from June to November.
It’ll still likely do well even without a Cannes endorsement. Missing out on that all-important summer opening is likely to hurt more, however.
Release date: November 20

4. Tre Piani (Three Floors)
Italian director Nanni Moretti is a Cannes regular, and won the Palme d’Or for 2001’s The Son’s Room. His latest film is the first to have an adapted screenplay – it is based on Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo’s novel about three families living in flats in the same condominium.
Moretti and fellow Italians Alba Rohrwacher and Riccardo Scamarcio star, which does suggest that – with no set Italian release date yet – the film will head to Venice in September, assuming that festival can proceed. Given how badly Italy suffered during the pandemic, a movie from one of its most celebrated filmmakers may be just the tonic.
Release date: TBC

5. Benedetta
Already pushed from Cannes 2019 because its Dutch director, Paul Verhoeven, needed a hip operation, this erotic love story between two 17th century nuns, starring Virginie Efira, has now been delayed another 12 months, according to its producer Saïd Ben Saïd.
That’s an agonising thought for fans of Verhoeven, the man behind RoboCop and Basic Instinct. What it does mean is that Cannes has likely guaranteed it a berth in the 2021 competition line-up – proof of just how valuable a slot in the festival can be. Sometimes the wait is worth it.
Release date: May 2021
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Coronavirus pandemic

Cannes 2020: five films, from Pixar, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson and others, selected for the now cancelled festival, and their fate going forward

Pixar’s “Soul” stars Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner (in glasses), a man whose soul is separated from his body in an accident. Image: Pixar

Virginie Efira in a still from Benedetta.

(FILES) In this file US director Spike Lee attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd Oscars at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on February 9, 2020. - A host of stars including Spike Lee, Mariah Carey and Robert De Niro will feature in a telethon to raise money for New Yorkers whose lives have been impacted by COVID-19, organizers announced on May 4, 2020. The hour-long event, organized by the anti-poverty charity Robin Hood and media group iHeartRadio, will be hosted by comedic actress and producer Tina Fey on May 11. (Photo by Jean-Baptiste Lacroix / AFP)

A still from Tre Piani (Three Floors).

(From left) Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and Griffin Dunne in a scene from director Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, which had been selected to show at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France.

Every Ang Lee film ranked: from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – now 20 years old – to Gemini Man, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi

Michelle Yeoh stars in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Photo: Source: Edko Films via Bloomberg

Picture for Features, Sunday Review. This film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel in a scene from "Life of Pi." (HANDOUT/ SCMP Pictures/ 20th Century Fox)

Heath Ledger (left) and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee. Photo: AP/Focus Features/Kimberly French

Unhinged starring Russell Crowe aims to be first film back in US cinemas

Unhinged starring Russell Crowe is to be the first major film to get a cinema release in the US since the Covid-19 pandemic closed businesses. It’s set to show in cinemas on July 1.

Samuel L Jackson "Darius Kincaid" and Ryan Reynolds as "Michael Bryce" in THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD. Photo by Jack English.

John David Washington in a still from Tenet, directed by Christopher Nolan.

A poster of the Walt Disney Studios' "Mulan" movie, which was going to be released on March 27, towers over an empty Hollywood Boulevard during the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

This image released by Disney shows Yifei Liu in the title role of "Mulan." The Walt Disney Co. officially postponed the theatrical release of "Mulan," amid the coronavirus outbreak. It was was set to come out at the end of the month. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (Jasin Boland/Disney via AP)

‘Isolation cinema’: filmmakers under lockdown explore big ideas in small spaces

Short films submitted to the Thessaloniki Inter­national Film Festival’s “Spaces” project include Radu Jude’s A Fable. Photo: Handout

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Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch was made for Cannes – set in Paris and starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet
Spike Lee was to show his new film Da 5 Bloods, Pixar to unveil Soul, Paul Verhoeven to reveal erotic nuns tale Benedetta, and Nanni Moretti to debut Tre Piani


Cannes Film Festival has revealed five of the films it would have screened had it not been cancelled due to coronavirus, from Pixar, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson and more. Here’s what we know of the films, and when we’ll see them.
