'Nights' likely to open Cannes

Friedkin, Araki lead American presence

By ALISON JAMES

Jude Law and Norah Jones star in Wong Kar-wai's first English language film, 'My Blueberry Nights,' which may open the Cannes fest.

'Smiley Face'

PARIS -- With the Cannes Film Fest set to unveil official selections Thursday, the lineup is firming up, with a heavy American presence (including pics by Abel Ferrara, William Friedkin and Gregg Araki) and Wong Kar-wai's "My Blueberry Nights" looking like the opening night film on May 16.

Though the Hong Kong filmmaker's pic had been rumored, the big surprise is that fest prexy Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Fremaux would bet so heavily on the high-profile slot. Three years ago, Wong's competition title "2046" arrived with a wet print 24 hours after its scheduled screening.

Presumably, there have been assurances that the new pic, starring Norah Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman, will arrive on time.

Friedkin will be back on the Croisette after last year's Directors Fortnight screening of "Bug," with a remastered version of his 1980 Al Pacino starrer "Cruising."

WB will use Directors Fortnight berth as a launch pad for a fall DVD re-release of the pic, whose star and producer Jerry Weintraub also will be in Cannes for an official out-of-competition screening of "Ocean's Thirteen."

Directors Fortnight artistic director Olivier Pere has disclosed that, besides "Cruising," at least two other U.S. titles will be in the sidebar: "Smiley Face" and "Chop Shop." The former is Araki's Sundance-screened pic and the latter is by Gotham-based helmer Ramin Bahrani, about an Iranian in a poor immigrant neighborhood of New York.

"It shows a New York that we don't often see and it is very powerful, documentary-like film," Pere told Daily Variety.

Titles from other parts of the world are expected to include Hector Babenco's "El Pasado," and fellow Mexican Carlos Reygadas' "Silent Light," Canadian Denys Arcand's "L'Age des Tenebres" and Hungarian helmer Bela Tarr's "L'homme de Londres."

Traditionally Gallic choices are left to the last minute and this year is no exception, but the animated "Persepolis" based on a black-and white-comicbook autobiography by Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, has apparently secured a berth.

Pic, co-helmed by the author, was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics at Cannes last year.

Other films in the short list include Catherine Breillat's "La Vieille maitresse" (starring Asia Argento in a role that Breillat offered at one point to Madonna), Claude Miller's "The Secret," Olivier Assayas' "Boarding Gate," Abdel Kechiche's "La Graine et le mulet" (a Claude Berri-produced follow-up to the 2006 Cesar award winning "L'Esquive") and American helmer Julian Schnabel's French-language "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."