Cannes lineup includes directorial debut from Squid Games’ Lee Jung-jae

The Cannes Film Festival looks like it’s coming back with a bang this year, announcing a thrilling lineup of films, A-list stars, and indie darlings to entice plenty of cinephiles.

Among the marquee films that will be competing for the prestigious Palm d’Or are David Cronenberg directing his first film in eight years and an exceptional cast (Viggo Mortenson, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart) in the body horror-human evolution story Crimes of the Future, Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, Claire Denis’ Stars at Noon, and Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up. Already considered an early Oscar contender, James Gray directs Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins (no stranger to Oscars) in Armageddon Time.

Tom Cruise will be on hand with his highly anticipated Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, with the superstar set to make a glittering appearance at the festival, which will also feature a career retrospective for the decades famous actor. Both Maverick and Ethan Coen’s solo directorial study, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind are not competing, but screening only.

Also premiering is Baz Luhrmann’s pulsating Elvis biopic starring Tom Hanks. Anything premiered by Luhrmann at Cannes is always an exceptional extravaganza. Moulin Rouge took the festival by storm in 2001, with memories of its glamorous cast of Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor that still linger. Luhrmann repeated the feat by dazzling the French audience with The Great Gatsby in 2013.

Considering how his Strictly Ballroom created a sensation in 1992 and how Luhrmann is exceptional at telling a story through music, excitement is building for his Elvis film (still sad that they recast Elvis’ dad, who was originally supposed to be played by Rufus Sewell, who had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts because of COVID delays).

Elvis’ granddaughter, Riley Keough, will be unveiling her directorial debut at the festival, Beast, which she wrote and co-directed with Gina Gammell, that involves the interlocking stories of three Lakota men living on a Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Another intriguing directorial debut will come from Squid Game breakout star Lee Jung-jae, who also headlines the spy thriller he’s directing, Hunt, which features a screenplay he also wrote. Set in the 1980s, the film involves two agents working for the Agency for National Security Planning on a mission to discover a North Korean spy within the organization.

It’s been quite a year for the Korean actor, who became a household name thanks to the phenomenal success of Netflix’s Squid Game. His powerfully intense performance gained him several awards already, including this year’s Golden Globe, Independent Spirit, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. The 49-year-old is set to reprise his enormously popular Squid Game role for the eagerly anticipated second season.

"“Because I’ve received so much love and support from [viewers], of course I have to play him again if there is a season 2. But at this point I don’t know anything about how the story is going to turn out, or how the characters are going to change, or if there is going to be any new characters adding to the series,” Jung-jae said according to Entertainment Weekly."

In the meantime, audiences can expect to see a whole new side of the celebrated actor as Lee Jung-jae gets set to promote his filmmaking talents along the French Riviera.

You can see the full Cannes Festival announcement of talent here.

The only disappointing tidbit is the lack of representation of female filmmakers at this year’s festival. In 2018, Cannes signed a gender parity pledge, but the festival still remains more conservative than other more progressive events such as Sundance, which highlighted over 50% of their projects from female talent. With many of the festivals making great strides, Cannes still has a bit of work left to do.

The Cannes Film Festival takes place May 17 – 28.