'Robin Hood' one of few A-list premieres at Cannes
Hard times for the economy. Hard times for the Cannes Film Festival, at least in terms of splashy Hollywood films for which the world's most prestigious cinema showcase is known.
Cannes opens Wednesday with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," one of the few A-list premieres at this year's festival, whose lineup has an undercurrent of economic themes, The Associated Press reports.
The timing of Cannes could not be better for "Robin Hood." The movie opens theatrically Wednesday in France and elsewhere over the next two days, including the U.S. debut Friday, so the media frenzy as Crowe and Blanchett strut the Cannes red carpet is great publicity as it tries to compete with blockbuster "Iron Man 2."
"It's an honor, but it's also bloody useful. Everything today is marketing. You've got to get positioned really fast. You better establish yourself in that opening week," said director Scott, who was not attending Cannes because of recent knee surgery.
Along with "Robin Hood," starring Crowe as the roguish archer battling medieval robber barons, Cannes offers a first look at financial wolves of our own times with Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the follow-up to their 1987 hit "Wall Street."