Cannes Film Festival 2015 Day 2: 'The Tale of Tales' Premieres to Rave Reviews, Fox Searchlight Takes 'Youth'
The second day of the Cannes Film Festival saw yet another competition film open and two major acquisitions also occurred.
Matteo Garrone's "The Tale of Tales" opened in the competition slate to rave reviews with many critics hailing it for its visuals and for its wacky plot. The movie is based on three different fables and it stars Salma Hayek, Toby Jones and Vincent Cassel. The movie has yet to acquire a distributor but based on the already good reviews and its star power, the movie could land with a specialty distributor. Garrone has had two films in the competition slate that have previously won the Grand Jury Prize. Those films were "Reality" and "Gomorrah."
Two competition films were also acquired after high bidding. Paolo Sorrentino's upcoming film "Youth" starring Michael Caine was acquired by Fox Searchlight. The Indie distributor has been in charge of releasing the past two Oscar winners including "Birdman" and "12 Years a Slave." The company has also released "Juno," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Black Swan," all best picture nominees in their respective years. Fox Searchlight will distribute the film in the fall in time for awards season.
Sony Pictures Classics took the rights to "Our Little Sister." The Japanese film has already obtained rave reviews and is also competing in competition. Sony Pictures Classics had a number of films last year at Cannes including "Leviathan," "Foxcatcher," "Mr. Turner," and "Jimmy's Hall."
The Weinstein Company also had a busy morning as it acquired the Edgar Ramirez and Robert De Niro film "Hands of Stone." The film was directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and is set to open in 2,000 screens. The movie has no release date but given the pedigree expect the movie at the end of the year. The Weinstein Company has not been active in the festival circuit ever since Toronto but this month the company is set to unveil two highly anticipated films; "Macbeth" and "Carol."
Focus Features also took home rights to the upcoming "Ratchet & Clank", a CG-animated feature film based on the popular PlayStation video game. The film is set to be voiced by Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Sylvester Stallone and Rosario Dawson and will be released on April 29, 2016.
A number of films also announced casting. Pablo Larrain's upcoming Jackie Kennedy biopic confirmed that Natalie Portman will portray the first lady. The film will be titled "Jackie" and will be Larrain's next film after he shoots "Neruda." The news comes a day after Gael Garcia Bernal joined "Neruda" and was also announced at Cannes.
Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz are also set to star in a new biopic entitled "Escobar." The film will be directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa and is based on Virginia Vallejo's Spanish-language memoir "Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar." The movie is the third time Bardem and Cruz star in the same film. Previously the couple was seen in "Live Flesh," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "The Counselor."
The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most important film festival in the world. Not only is it a festival but it is also a market in which a number of projects are acquired and a number of films are started.
The festival runs from May 13-24.
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