2024 Cannes Film Festival To Include ‘The Apprentice,’ ‘Furiosa’ And More:

The Cannes Film Festival unveiled its lineup for the 77th edition, which will be held from May 14 to 25, at a press conference presented by the artistic director Thierry Frémaux and the president of the festival, Iris Knobloch.

A few titles had already been announced over the last couple of weeks: Quentin Dupieux’s latest film The Second Act will open the festival Wednesday 15. Kevin Costner’s highly anticipated western Horizon: An American Saga will have its premiere Sunday 19 and George Miller’s Mad Max: Furiosa will be presented out of competition May 15, 9 years after Mad Max: Fury Road was also presented on the Croisette.

Francis Ford Coppola’s colossal, self-financed movie Megalopolis will also premiere Friday 17. While Coppola’s Megalopolis is currently struggling to find a distributor, the film will be competing for the Palme d’Or, some 40 years after Apocalypse Now had won the prestigious award in 1979.

As previously announced, this year’s president of the jury will be Greta Gerwig, fresh off the success of the Barbie movie. During the press conference, Knobloch declared: “It’s a great joy to welcome her this year, and that she accepted this responsibility”.

The president of the festival continued by saying that Gerwig embodies the spirit of the festival and that she only regards cinema and its history with love, respect, even if she also likes to reinvent the codes. She values every job in the industry as she is a writer, an actress and a director: “She is full of life and talent” concluded Knobloch.

George Lucas declared, “The Festival de Cannes has always held a special place in my heart. I was surprised and elated when my first film, THX-1138, was selected to be shown in a new program for first time directors called the Directors’ Fortnight. Since then, I have returned to the festival on many occasions in a variety of capacities as a writer, director and producer. I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me.”

Thierry Frémaux also addressed the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, saying that even if it has impacted the festival, the U.S. cinema will still be very much represented this year. It was also announced that after last year’s 100th anniversary of Warner Bros it will be the turn of Columbia Pictures to celebrate its 100 anniversary at Cannes.

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival promises to be once again, a starry one: after the return and triumph of Martin Scorsese for his film Killers of the Flower Moon last year, as well as the attendance of some of the biggest names in the industry, and the return of others, like Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Juliette Binoche, Natalie Portman or Jude Law. This year, Cate Blanchett, Zoe Saldaña, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Demi Moore, Leos Carax, Léa Seydoux, will be walking the red carpet on the Croisette.

As always, a few more movies will be added in different categories in the next few days, including in the category of the films in Competition and Un Certain Regard. “We fly them to the moon,” Knobloch said, regarding the success during the awards season of so many movies presented at Cannes in 2023, which led to 26 Oscar nominations and 3 wins.

This year will also be without any doubt, the occasion to introduce the next generations of filmmakers and actors. “The magic of the big screen is intact,” concluded Frémaux.

View this article and the full lineup at Forbes.