Los Angeles - Hollywood's heavyweights will be out in force on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet this year, but when it comes to the actual competition, movies actually made by the traditional world capital of the movie industry will be a scarce commodity.
The only bona-fide Hollywood offering up for the coveted Palme d'Or is from maverick Terrence Malick, who is so out of synch with the usual Hollywood way of doing things that he has made only four features since coming to prominence with Badlands in 1973.
Yet his artistic renown is such that he has snared such actors as Brad Pitt and Sean Penn to star in his latest endeavour, The Tree of Life, an end-of-innocence tale set in the Texas of the 1950s.
While no other films in the official competition can really qualify as a major Hollywood production, US influence and star power will be highly evident on Cannes' screens, parties and restaurants, signifying the increasingly global nature of the movie world's dynamics, say experts.
'The international box office has accounted for more than 50 per cent of Hollywood's total for a few years now - while the take for action movies is 60/40 or more,' says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, who identifies Russia, Korea and China as the most vibrant new market for Hollywood films.
Most such movies are not endowed with the arthouse sensibilities favoured by Cannes organizers - but are perfect fodder for out of competition screenings - an arrangement that offers advantages for all sides, says Pandya.
'Studios like to use Cannes as the launching pad for summer blockbusters,' says Pandya. 'That allows them to do all the press junkets at one shot and the marketing buzz is felt all over the world. What they offer Cannes in return is the money and the stars, the parties, the yachts and everything else.'
But wherever films are made, and despite the identity of their technical crew and director, the one inarguable fact of the film world is that US movie stars are the global motion picture industry's most bankable commodities.
After all they possessing unrivalled celebrity stature and instant recognition and ensuring that Cannes enjoys the marketing cachet, that its more arty selections may not confer.
Robert De Niro will be lending his legendary status to the festival by heading up the Cannes jury that will pick the Palme d'Or winner from the 19 entrants. The jury also has a spot for Hollywood's rambunctious Kill Bill star Uma Thurman.
One of the favourites for their votes is Drive by the noted Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. Originally conceived as a big budget Hollywood film noir, Drive was eventually made as an independently financed movie starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver.
Another quirky US-based movie in the competition is Paolo Sorrentino's This Must be the Place. The film stars Sean Penn as Cheyenne, a wealthy former rock star who comes out of his retirement in Dublin to trek across the US in search of his late father's holocaust tormentor.
But some of the most buzz-worthy films will screen out of competition entirely. Cannes moviegoers will be the first public audiences to wrap their eyes around the latest Pirates of the Caribbean flick.
The blockbuster Disney franchise is one of the most financially successful film series in history, and the latest installment, which features the sizzling duo of Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz will likely keep the treasure rolling in from every corner of the globe for the US entertainment conglomerate.
The paparazzis' flash bulbs will also be popping at the premiere of Beaver, Jodie Foster's family drama which stars Mel Gibson as a depressed executive who communicates with the world through a stuffed animal.
Gus Van Sant's teen drama Restless meanwhile will open the festival's key Un Certain Regard section. It stars Mia Wasikowska as a teenager who develops a serious illness.
The main festival will open with the latest work from critical favourite Woody Allen, whose romantic comedy Midnight in Paris features such Hollywood stalwarts as Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, as well as international stars like Marion Cotillard and Carla Bruni.
'They are setting up for an awards campaign that ends at the Oscars,' says Pandya. 'And if they can make some money along the way that's a bonus.'
The only bona-fide Hollywood offering up for the coveted Palme d'Or is from maverick Terrence Malick, who is so out of synch with the usual Hollywood way of doing things that he has made only four features since coming to prominence with Badlands in 1973.
Yet his artistic renown is such that he has snared such actors as Brad Pitt and Sean Penn to star in his latest endeavour, The Tree of Life, an end-of-innocence tale set in the Texas of the 1950s.
While no other films in the official competition can really qualify as a major Hollywood production, US influence and star power will be highly evident on Cannes' screens, parties and restaurants, signifying the increasingly global nature of the movie world's dynamics, say experts.
'The international box office has accounted for more than 50 per cent of Hollywood's total for a few years now - while the take for action movies is 60/40 or more,' says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, who identifies Russia, Korea and China as the most vibrant new market for Hollywood films.
Most such movies are not endowed with the arthouse sensibilities favoured by Cannes organizers - but are perfect fodder for out of competition screenings - an arrangement that offers advantages for all sides, says Pandya.
'Studios like to use Cannes as the launching pad for summer blockbusters,' says Pandya. 'That allows them to do all the press junkets at one shot and the marketing buzz is felt all over the world. What they offer Cannes in return is the money and the stars, the parties, the yachts and everything else.'
But wherever films are made, and despite the identity of their technical crew and director, the one inarguable fact of the film world is that US movie stars are the global motion picture industry's most bankable commodities.
After all they possessing unrivalled celebrity stature and instant recognition and ensuring that Cannes enjoys the marketing cachet, that its more arty selections may not confer.
Robert De Niro will be lending his legendary status to the festival by heading up the Cannes jury that will pick the Palme d'Or winner from the 19 entrants. The jury also has a spot for Hollywood's rambunctious Kill Bill star Uma Thurman.
One of the favourites for their votes is Drive by the noted Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. Originally conceived as a big budget Hollywood film noir, Drive was eventually made as an independently financed movie starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver.
Another quirky US-based movie in the competition is Paolo Sorrentino's This Must be the Place. The film stars Sean Penn as Cheyenne, a wealthy former rock star who comes out of his retirement in Dublin to trek across the US in search of his late father's holocaust tormentor.
But some of the most buzz-worthy films will screen out of competition entirely. Cannes moviegoers will be the first public audiences to wrap their eyes around the latest Pirates of the Caribbean flick.
The blockbuster Disney franchise is one of the most financially successful film series in history, and the latest installment, which features the sizzling duo of Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz will likely keep the treasure rolling in from every corner of the globe for the US entertainment conglomerate.
The paparazzis' flash bulbs will also be popping at the premiere of Beaver, Jodie Foster's family drama which stars Mel Gibson as a depressed executive who communicates with the world through a stuffed animal.
Gus Van Sant's teen drama Restless meanwhile will open the festival's key Un Certain Regard section. It stars Mia Wasikowska as a teenager who develops a serious illness.
The main festival will open with the latest work from critical favourite Woody Allen, whose romantic comedy Midnight in Paris features such Hollywood stalwarts as Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, as well as international stars like Marion Cotillard and Carla Bruni.
'They are setting up for an awards campaign that ends at the Oscars,' says Pandya. 'And if they can make some money along the way that's a bonus.'
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