Cannes 2025 Unveils Star-Studded Lineup with Scarlett Johansson, Paul Mescal and Tom Cruise Leading the Charge

The red carpets are about to roll out, the Croisette is bracing for a flood of cinematic magic, and Cannes 2025 is shaping up to be a blockbuster for the soul. With Scarlett Johansson, Paul Mescal, and Josh O’Connor set to make waves—and the premieres of hotly anticipated films by Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Richard Linklater, and Kelly Reichardt—this year’s festival is promising a potent blend of prestige, star wattage, and artistic ambition.

Unveiled Thursday morning in Paris by festival head Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch, the 78th edition of the world’s most prestigious film festival will once again turn the French Riviera into a global stage for cinema.

From Whimsical Schemes to Dark Western Dreams

The Palme d’Or race is officially on. Wes Anderson returns with The Phoenician Scheme, a stylized caper with a dream cast—Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Michael Cera, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Johansson herself—while Ari Aster swaps horror for a twisted western in Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Pedro Pascal.

Josh O’Connor, having quietly ascended to leading-man status, takes center stage in not one but two competition films: Kelly Reichardt’s Vietnam War drama The Mastermind and Oliver Hermanus’s tender gay romance The History of Sound.

Linklater, Trier, and Panahi Join the Fray

Richard Linklater brings New Wave, a nostalgic ode to the making of Breathless, just months after debuting Blue Moon in Berlin. Also vying for top honors: Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Jafar Panahi’s Un Simple Accident, and the Dardenne brothers with Jeunes Mères, continuing their legacy of quiet, piercing realism.

Scarlett Steps Behind the Camera

The Un Certain Regard section is no less dazzling. Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great, joined by fellow actor-turned-filmmaker Harris Dickinson, premiering Urchin. British director Harry Lighton presents Pillion, a tender queer romance featuring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling.

And in a historic first, Nigeria enters the official selection with My Father’s Shadow, British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr’s gripping tale of brotherhood during the chaos of Nigeria’s 1993 elections.

Action, Legends, and Midnight Mayhem

While competition rules the day, the nights belong to legends and thrill-seekers. Tom Cruise returns to Cannes with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, screening out of competition. Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest—a bold reimagining of Kurosawa’s High and Low starring Denzel Washington—will also screen outside the main race.

Meanwhile, Kirill Serebrennikov stirs controversy again with The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, and Fatih Akin revisits childhood and war in Amrum. Midnight screenings promise edge-of-your-seat storytelling with films like Exit 8and Sons of the Neon Light.

Cannes: Still the Oscar Kingmaker

If recent history is any clue—last year’s Anora turned its Palme d’Or win into a five-Oscar sweep—Cannes remains the launchpad for serious, award-season-savvy cinema. In 2024 alone, Cannes selections scored a staggering 31 Academy Award nominations and took home nine golden statues.

This May, all eyes turn to Cannes, where legends are born, stars shine their brightest, and the future of cinema plays out on the silver screen by the sea.

Cannes 2025 official selection: the full list

OPENING FILM 

Leave One Day (Amélie Bonnin)

COMPETITION  

Alpha (Julia Ducournau)

Dossier 137 (Dominik Moll)  

The Eagles Of The Republic (Tarik Saleh)  

Eddington (Ari Aster)  

Fuori (Mario Martone)  

The History Of Sound (Oliver Hermanus)  

A Simple Accident (Jafar Panahi)  

La Petite Dernière (Hafsia Herzi) 

The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)  

Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)  

The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson)  

Renoir (Chie Hayakawa)  

Romeria (Carla Simon)  

The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)  

Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)  

Sirat (Oliver Laxe)  

Sound Of Falling (Mascha Schilinski)  

Two Prosecutors (Sergei Loznitsa) 

Young Mothers (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)

UN CERTAIN REGARD  

Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore (Morad Mostafa)  

Eleanor The Great (Scarlett Johansson)  

L’inconnue de la Grande Arche (Stephane Demoustier)  

Meteors (Hubert Charuel)  

My Father’s Shadow (Akinola Davies Jr)  

The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo (Diego Céspedes)  

Once Upon A Time In Gaza (Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser)  

A Pale View Of Hills (Kei Ishikawa)  

Pillion (Harry Lighton)  

The Plague (Charlie Polinger) 

Urchin (Harris Dickinson)

OUT OF COMPETITION  

The Coming Of The Future (Cedric Klapisch)  

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie)  

The Richest Woman In The World (Thierry Klifa)  

Vie Privée (Rebecca Zlotowski)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS  

Bono: Stories Of Surrender (Andrew Dominik)  

The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol (Sylvain Chomet)  

Tell Her That I Love Her (Claude Miller)

CANNES PREMIERE  

Amrum (Fatih Akin)  

Connemara (Alex Lutz)  

The Disappearance Of Josef Mengele (Kirill Serebrennikov)  

Orwell (Raoul Peck)  

Splitsville (Michael Angelo Covino)  

The Wave (Sebastián Lelio)

This year’s Cannes Film Festival takes place from 13 – 25 May. Stay tuned to ECRAN Cinema for our full Cannes preview and coverage.