Luhrmann's THE GREAT GATSBY To Open Cannes Film Festival

Baz Luhmann's long developing 3D feature film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's heralded 1925 novel THE GREAT GATSBY will open the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, five days after its stateside release.

THE GREAT GATSBY stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan and features an anachronistic score by none other than rap mogul Jay-Z, whose Kanye West/Frank Ocean WATCH THE THRONE collaboration "No Church In The Wild" was prominently featured in trailers and commercials for the film. Jay-Z will also attend the Cannes premiere, it has been confirmed.

Lurhmann expressed his enthusiasm for the Cannes selection of THE GREAT GATSBY in a statement, saying, ""It is a great honor for all those who have worked on THE GREAT GATSBY to open the Cannes Film Festival."

He continues, remarking upon his Cannes history, "We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film, STRICTLY BALLROOM, was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael."

Luhrmann's MOULIN ROUGE! was an official selection of the festival in 2001, in addition to STRICTLY BALLROOM's selection in 1992.

Check out my 2010 InDepth InterView with Baz Luhrmann here.

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More information on THE GREAT GATSBY is available here.