Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Selena Gomez Bring Star Power to 2019 Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival is famous for being a glamorous, A-list event — and this year is bound to not disappoint with stars like Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez all attending with movies in competition.
The annual event kicks off on Tuesday, bringing some of the starriest names and films to the South of France for 11 days of parties and red carpets.
The festival features 21 films competing for the coveted Palme d’Or, the grand prize, which has been awarded to such classics as Taxi Driver and The Piano. Birdman director This year, Alejando Gonzelez Inarritu leads a jury that includes Elle Fanning, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), Senegalese actress Maimouna N’Diaye, Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski (Cold War), French comic book creator and director Eric Bilal, Moroccan writer-director Robin Campillo and American director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff).
No doubt the biggest film up for the event’s main prize is Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as actor Rick Dalton, while Brad Pitt plays his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth. The two are struggling with a changing Hollywood landscape at the height of hippy Hollywood, all exemplified by Dalton’s next door neighbor Sharon Tate, played by Margot Robbie.
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will premiere at Cannes 25 years after Pulp Fiction won Tarantino his first and only Palme d’Or.
The movie, set to come out two weeks before the 50th anniversary of the Manson family murders, also features Damon Harriman as Charles Manson. Tate was 8 months pregnant with director Roman Polanski’s child when she was brutally murdered by members of the Manson family, along with 4 others, on August 8, 1969.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — also starring Luke Perry in his final role, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning and Lena Dunham — hits theaters July 26.
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Not to be outdone, Jim Jarmusch’s opening night film The Dead Don’t Die boasts one of the starriest casts of the competition. Selena Gomez leads an ensemble that includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Rosie Perez, Adam Driver, Danny Glover, Chloe Sevigny, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi and Carol Kane for a zombie horror comedy. It has the makings of a cult hit like Jarmusch’s best-loved films, including Broken Flowers and Only Lovers Left Alive. It opens June 14.
Playing out of competition, the Elton John biopic Rocketman will make a splash at its world premiere where the singer will reportedly perform alongside its star, Taron Egerton. The actor does all his own singing as the rocker, and judging by early footage, he does the legend proud. The film opens on May 31.
Lastly, a regular to the festival, Robert Pattinson, returns this year with The Lighthouse, a sure-to-be creepy period film set in 20th century Maine from the mind of The Witch director Robert Eggers.
The 2019 Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25.
