Cannes lineup includes Asteroid City, Indiana Jones, and Killers of the Flower Moon

Last Updated on April 28, 2023

The lineup for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival will include a couple of world premieres for two of the anticipated upcoming films of the year as well as some notable entries for the competition. The new president of the Cannes Film Festival, Iris Knobloch unveiled the list of films set to make screenings and remarked, “Cannes is going back to the future of cinema.” The roster of filmmakers featured this year features a bevy of renowned names from all over the film world. The Hollywood Reporter gives us a breakdown of the highlights of titles that are scheduled to make their appearance.

Two big Hollywood world premieres include the upcoming sequel to Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The much-anticipated film reunites Scorsese with not only his frequent collaborator, Leonard DiCaprio, but with his legendary collaborator, Robert De Niro. The plot synopsis for Killers reads, “In 1920s Oklahoma, the Osage Nation were the richest people per capita in the world after oil was discovered under their land. And then they were murdered, one by one. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case and unraveled a chilling conspiracy and one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.”

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not usually the type of film to be found in contention at Cannes. However, the big adventure sequel is set to make its debut before hitting theaters this summer. The Harrison Ford film is the latest installment in the famed franchise and the first (and likely only) series entry not to be directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg. Director James Mangold has been passed the torch on this film.

One of the notable entries is the premiere of Wes Anderson’s newest comedy, Asteroid City. Anderson continues to impress with a cast filled with talented names like Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, and more. Thierry Frémaux, the artistic director of Cannes, boasts that “It’s a Wes Anderson film, full stop.” The comedy will be making its debut in competition.

Palme d’Or winner for Shoplifters back in 2018, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, has returned to the Cannes competition with Monster. No story details have yet to be revealed, although it is known to star Ando Sakura from Shoplifters and was scored by “the late, great musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away in March.”

THR also reports, “Todd Haynes’ May December starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton will also premiere in competition. The story follows a married couple who buckles under pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about a public scandal in their past.”

Two-time Palme d’Or winner Ken Loach returns to Cannes with The Old Oak. Another former Palme d’Or winner, Nanni Moretti (2001’s The Son’s Room), returns with the Rome-based film, Il Sol Dell’Avvenire. Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, will be making his return to the competition with Dead Leaves, his first film in six years. Also, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a 2014 Palme d’Or winner with Winter Sleep, comes back with their latest, About Dry Grasses.

For more details and a fully comprehensive list of the films set to screen at Cannes this year, check out the lineup at THR here.