Some names have already been teased in recent days. Tom Cruise is expected on the Croisette in 2025 to present, out of competition, his latest installment, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
It has also been announced that the honorary Palme d'Or will be awarded to Robert De Niro, a Cannes regular ever since Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, which won the Palme d'Or in 1976. "Cannes is his home," said Thierry Frémaux, the Festival de Cannes general delegate, in unison with the president, Iris Knobloch, at a press conference on Thursday, April 10, while unveiling the official selection for the 78th edition of Cannes Festival – running from May 13 to May 24. Before Frémaux announced the 50 films at the UGC Montparnasse in Paris (in the 6th arrondissement), Knobloch noted that in this period of "retreat," the festival's role would be to "gather all the light of cinema to illuminate everything we have in common."
In light of the April 9 publication of the report from the National Assembly's inquiry commission on violence in the cinema, theater, and advertising sectors, Knobloch added that the festival would be "particularly attentive" to the plight of women. As Knobloch and Frémaux stressed, women would indeed be in the spotlight, with Juliette Binoche as the jury's president. The first word Frémaux uttered about the competition was a number: six, which represents the number of female directors competing for the Palme d'Or, out of a total of 19 feature films (pending additions). The "boss" of the Cannes Festival also made sure to specify that of the 2,909 films viewed, 38% came from women and 62% from men.
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