Cannes Film Festival Logo

The 66th Cannes Film Festival kicked off this week with the glittering red carpet premiere of The Great Gatsby, attended by filmmaker Bas Luhrmann and cast members Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Isla Fisher. The film opened in America last Friday and in the UK this Thursday.

Mulligan also stars in another film in competition at Cannes: the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis is the story of a folk singer (Oscar Isaac) in 1960s New York. The eclectic, starry cast includes Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund and John Goodman. And to go with the Cannes world premiere, the film launched its first trailer this week. It looks pretty unmissable, and is being released to target awards season.

Also in competition at Cannes is Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra, which debuted its snappy trailer this week. It looks pretty outrageous, and very funny too, with Michael Douglas camping it up as flamboyant Vegas pianist Liberace. Matt Damon plays his long-time boyfriend, and the cast also includes Rob Lowe, Scot Bakula, Dan Aykroyd and Debbie Reynolds. It opens in UK cinemas next month and debuts on HBO in America.

As I Lay Dying

Another Cannes debut is As I Lay Dying, written and directed by James Franco, who also stars in this drama based on the 1930 William Faulker novel about a family's attempt to honour their matriarch's dying wish. A new trailer for the film reveals an artful, moody Western-style drama that takes some harrowing twists and turns. 

Meanwhile in New York, paparazzi caught Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann shooting a scene for Nick Cassavettes' new comedy The Other Woman, about a woman who finds out that her married boyfriend (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is having an affair with a third woman, so she teams up with his wife to get revenge. They shot three takes of the argument scene on a busy street. 

And there were more new trailers this week. Ender's Game is another futuristic thriller about an unusually gifted teen in a post-apocalyptic world. Asa Butterfield (Hugo) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) star in the film, with impressive costars including Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin. It looks like a big sci-fi action blockbuster with rather massive effects.

Gravity Poster

But the biggest reaction to a trailer so far this year has been for Gravity, a thriller in which two astronauts (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock) have a nightmarish experience while on a space-walk in earth orbit. The film is directed by Alfonso Cuaron and, if it's even half as thrilling as the trailer, look for it to be a huge hit when it's released in October.

Rich Cline