Release Dates for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival's Most Hyped Movies

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The Cannes Film Festival happens every May, but it takes a while for the films exhibited in the south of France to be released around the world. This year’s fest had quite a few highly anticipated competition entrants that are yet to see a wide release, including Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded ‘Megalopolis’ and Ali Abbasi’s controversial Trump biopic ‘The Apprentice’. If you’ve been itching to see Cannes’ most-hyped movies and winners, keep reading to find out when and where you’ll be able to watch.

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‘Megalopolis’

‘Megalopolis’ will be widely released on September 27, 2024 in the United States, with a one day Ultimate IMAX Experience in select theaters across the US on Monday, September 23, 2024. There was a live component of the screenings at Cannes, but it is unclear whether subsequent releases will include this detail.

The screenings held in Cannes had audiences and critics extremely split. While it’s a glitzy, extremely high-value production with a star-studded cast, the story barely hangs together, and modern audiences may not be familiar with the Roman myths or the German expressionist film ‘Metropolis’ (1927) that Coppola is building on. It had all the makings of an ultra-blockbuster, but there’s something deeply wrong with the pacing of this film that completely undermines what could have been.

‘The Apprentice’

Sebastian Stan hits the silver screen as Donald Trump alongside Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn in ‘The Apprentice’ on October 11, 2024. Director Ali Abbasi originally wanted to release in September to coincide with the presidential debate and important polling dates, but many distributors were scared to get anywhere near it, especially after the real-life Trump campaign sent Abbassi cease and desists.

Obviously, a movie about Donald Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn and how he became what he is today is an extremely polarizing topic, but the movie itself was actually incredible, with great acting from all involved and a super catchy soundtrack ripped straight from the 80s. By no means is it a love letter to its subject, quite the opposite, and it is sure to cause waves as we head into the election in November.

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‘The Substance’

The sci-fi body horror film ‘The Substance’ starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley arrives in theaters September 18, 2024 in the US. Coralie Fargeat’s writing and direction takes us through a gruesome take on society’s view of women as they age, and was a major hit at both the Cannes Festival where it won Best Screenplay, as well as the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.

If you’re squeamish, this probably isn’t for you. While some might not be able to handle the graphic body horror, those who can stomach something this gruesome will get a lot out of this film, and it should prove a worthy addition to the center of the Venn diagram between sci-fi and horror.

‘Anora’

The 2024 Palme d’Or winner was ‘Anora’, directed by Sean Baker, comes out in the US on October 18, 2024. This comedy drama features a sex worker’s chance at a fairytale ending when she falls in love with a Russian oligarch. They get married, but their happily ever after is threatened by her beau’s family.

This film was a huge favorite at the festival, and its award is well deserved. It’s another story in Sean Baker’s capable hands as a director. Neon also picked up the distribution rights during the film market at Cannes, making the correct bet on the Palme d’Or winner for the fifth year in a row.

‘Emilia Perez’

The dramatic Spanish musical ‘Emilia Perez’ will be released in select theaters shortly before its premiere on Netflix on November 13, 2024. This film chronicles the journey of a mob boss who wants to quit the life of crime and transition to being a woman, the lawyer that helped her disappear, and her estranged wife as she seeks to reconnect with the family she left behind. All of the starring women won Best Actress at Cannes, including Karla Sofía Gascón, the first transgender woman to win this award.

‘Emilia Perez’ has the opportunity to make people really appreciate musicals again, and despite the fact it was filmed in Spanish, Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana’s star power should help bring in audiences. It deserves a theatrical release, but at least a popular streamer picked it up for distribution.

‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’

Director Mohammad Rasoulof was chased out of his native country of Iran for his films, barely escaping an incredibly harsh sentence for “moral crimes” shortly before this year’s Cannes Film Festival. His entrant ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ won a Special Award in Cannes, and has shown at a bunch of festivals this year. This film will have a limited theatrical release in the US starting November 27, 2024.

‘Bird’

Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird’ starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski releases in US theaters on November 8, 2024. This coming-of-age drama set in the British countryside was well received at the festival, and hopefully will find its niche upon broad release.

‘The Girl with the Needle’

The Danish film ‘The Girl with the Needle’ will have a limited release in the US on December 6, 2024. This entrant divided viewers, it’s based on a true story but is quite gruesome in some sections and covers some sensitive topics.

‘All We Imagine as Light’

‘All We Imagine as Light’, a female-centric drama from Indian writer and director Payal Kapadia will have a limited release on November 15, 2024 in the US. After no entries from Indian filmmakers being accepted last year, it was refreshing to see ‘All We Imagine as Light’ win the Grand Prix at the festival.

Already Available

Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Kinds of Kindness’, another addition to his wacky weird world starring Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, released on June 21, 2024.

Unknown Release Dates

Not all of the films screened in competition have US release dates yet. These include ‘The Second Act’, known as ‘Le deuxième acte’ in French; ‘Grand Tour’, a Portuguese historical adventure drama, directed by Miguel Gomes; another Portuguese film, an erotic thriller/tropic noir called ‘Motel Destino’; David Cronenberg’s longest film to date, ‘The Shrouds’; ‘Parthenope’, starring Gary Oldman; ‘Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie’ starring Ben Whishaw, a biopic of a radical Soviet poet; Paul Schrader’s ‘Oh Canada’, a movie about a director demythologizing his life through flashback; ‘Diamant Brut’ or ‘Wild Diamond’, Agathe Riedinger’s first film, an edgy coming-of-age story; ‘L’amour ouf’ or ‘Beating Hearts’, a French musical romance; ‘La plus précieuse des marchandises’ or ‘The Most Precious of Cargoes’, the only animated competition film this year; ‘Marcello Mio’, a comedy drama about a woman breaking out of the shadow of her father; ‘Trei kilometri pâna la capatul lumii’ or ‘Three Kilometres to the End of the World’, a Romanian story of a queer teen clashing with the values of their community; and finally, ‘Feng Liu Yi Dai’ or ‘Caught by the Tides’, which follows a Chinese woman who lives her life in silence.

By Abigail Whitehurst

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Abigail Whitehurst

Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
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Abigail Whitehurst

Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.

Abigail Whitehurst

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Release Dates for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival’s Most Hyped Movies