The-Great-Gatsby-Poster-Leonardo-DiCaprioBaz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby has been on our Must-See list for a while now, and it’s no secret that we’re really looking forward to seeing the film this summer.

It was originally set to be a strong contender in the awards season just gone, but Warner Bros. decided to give the film a summer blockbuster release slot instead, and we can’t wait for it to land in May.

The film will be opening in the US on 10th May. And now Cannes have announced that Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel has been selected for the Opening Night Film.

The first trailer launched to amazing buzz back in May last year, and it was followed up with another fantastic second trailer back in December. We’ve still got another two months to wait for Gatsby’s arrival, and it’s definitely a good sign that it’s been chosen to open one of the most prominent film festivals of the year.

“The Great Gatsby” follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Leonardo DiCaprio is of course taking the titular leading role, with Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki, and Amitabh Bachchan completing a terrific ensemble.

Luhrmann is once more directing from a script he co-wrote with past collaborator Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet), adapting Fitzgerald’s original novel.

Luhrmann is no stranger to Cannes, having taken home the Un Certain Regard honour for his 1992 film, Strictly Ballroom. He then followed it up in 2001 with Moulin Rouge!, which opened the festival out in France. And now he’ll be heading for the Croisette once more with Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby will be released in 3D on 10th May in the US, with its UK release date set slightly later on 17th May, two days after opening the Cannes Film Festival on 15th May. If you’re going to Cannes, and will be there for the opening night, the atmosphere is pretty much guaranteed to be electric.

 

It is on The Great Gatsby by Australian director Baz Luhrmann, that the curtain will rise at the inauguration of the 66th Festival de Cannes, on Wednesday 15th May, in the Grand Théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals, out of Competition in the Official Selection.

Adapted from the famous novel by American author Francis Scott Fitzgerald and set against the roaring twenties on the East Coast of the United States, the film depicts the romantic and tragic figure of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), as narrated by his friend Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan, whose husband is played by Joel Edgerton. This prestigious occasion will also be graced with the presence of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, as well as the American pop star, rapper Jay-Z.

“It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival. We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside Saint-Raphaël.”

Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film was scripted by Baz Luhrmann and his faithful co-screenwriter Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel.

The opening film will be screened in 3D – for the second time during the history of the Festival, following Up by Pete Docter, in 2009.
On the same day the Festival gets underway – Wednesday 15th May – The Great Gatsby will also open in cinemas nationwide. Both in France and internationally, the film will be distributed in 2D and 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures and in certain regions by Village Roadshow Pictures.

Born in 1962 in Australia, Baz Luhrmann has twice been honoured by the Festival de Cannes for Strictly Ballroom (Un Certain Regard in 1992) and for Moulin Rouge! at the 54th Festival, in 2001, at an opening which is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby) has rarely been seen on the Croisette. He returns to Cannes for the first time since the 2007 presentation of The 11th Hour, a documentary on ecological issues which the actor himself produced.