Excuse my excitement at the moment as we are now just over 12 hours away from the reveal of this year’s Cannes Film Festival line-up. It’s already been confirmed Gus Van Sant’s Restless will open the Un Certain Regard selection, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be screened out of competition as will Kung Fu Panda 2. And of course, the big kahuna we all can’t wait to see, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life will also be screened as anticipation rises to a fevered pitch.
Opening the fest will be Woody Allen’s latest Midnight in Paris featuring the likes of Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Tom Hiddleston, Kurt Fuller, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Adrien Brody, Alison Pill and Lea Seydoux. Last year Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger landed with a bit of a thud so here’s to hoping this year’s showing is more impressive. However, beyond Midnight, Allen’s next film is already taking shape.
We already knew Allen’s next film would be set in and shot in Rome this summer. We also knew Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz had roles in the feature. We unfortunately don’t know what it’s about, but we now know the two final names to round out the principal cast.
Variety‘s Jeff Sneider reports Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page have joined Allen’s next, which he also wrote. Eisenberg seems an obvious choice given he has a similar delivery to that of Allen, which is actually a bit concerning considering how Whatever Works turned out with Larry David taking on the starring role. However, Eisenberg’s youth should serve him well in differentiating himself from Allen, something David didn’t have going for him.
Allen’s films have been up and down as of late. Speaking of Whatever Works I didn’t mind it as much as that above paragraph may lead you to believe, but it was a bit too Woody if that makes any sense. I’ve already mentioned how Vicky Cristina Barcelona was my favorite film of 2008 and going back only as far as 2005, I enjoyed Scoop‘s energy but wasn’t a fan of Match Point (the only Allen film I’ve ever thought was too long) or Cassandra’s Dream (solid performances, but the film itself was more depressing than most of Allen’s films and overall rather unnecessary).
I’m hoping this untitled Rome set picture of his can mirror the magic he found in Barcelona and to that point I have similar hopes for Midnight in Paris. So I guess… here’s to hoping.
