CANNES – You can get nostalgic about almost anything at the Cannes Film Festival, even Jerry Seinfeld on a zip line in a bumblebee costume.
For many years, Cannes has played host not just to an endless stream of artistically ambitious movies, but also to some of Hollywood’s most extreme promotional gambits. With so many films packed into the 12-day festival, and with much of the world watching, there are high stakes to standing out in Cannes.
But in recent years, the Cannes marketing stunt has turned into an endangered species. Hopes that Tom Cruise might revive a dormant tradition passed with the relatively sedate premiere Wednesday of “Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning.”
Would Cruise parachute into the Palais? Could he ride an airplane wing to the premiere? Nothing so elaborate came to pass. Cruise and company walked the red carpet while serenaded by an orchestra playing the “Mission: Impossible” theme.
Along the Croisette this year, there’s a noticeable lack of the kind of grand advertisements Hollywood has often trotted out for the festival. Paramount Pictures has a “Mission: Impossible” installation outside the Carlton Hotel, but — as has been true for several years — Hollywood rarely still seeks to make big marketing splashes in Cannes.
Even though Apple Studios’ upcoming Formula One action drama “F1,” distributed by Warner Bros., might seem like a natural fit, with the Monaco Grand Prix just days away, “F1” — at least so far — has made no pit stop in Cannes.
Things could change. Cannes runs until May 24. Someone might yet arrive by parasail over the Mediterranean, as T.J. Miller did in 2017 for “The Emoji Movie,” or do ninja kicks with a troupe of giant pandas, as Jack Black did in 2008 for “Kung Fu Panda.”
But for years, the circus-like quality of Cannes has been in decline. That’s owed partly to budgetary constraints and shifting marketing priorities for major studios. For Cruise and “Final Reckoning,” Cannes was just one stop on a worldwide tour.
Plus, some of those who were most devoted to bringing Hollywood entertainment to Cannes are no longer regulars here. While head of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg made sure his films left a mark in Cannes, whether with models wearing “Trolls” wigs or Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie” zip line.
Is the absence of such things anything to lament? Probably not, but they did add to the crazy-things-will-happen nature of Cannes, giving the festival the feel of big tent extravaganza. It could be counted as one small, superficial way that movies aren’t quite the carnivalesque show they once were.
For now, though, we can say we’ll always have when Sacha Baron Cohen, for “The Dictator,” rode a camel down the Croisette. Ah, the memories.
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This story has been corrected to report “F1” is from Apple Studios, not Universal.
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Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. He’s seeing approximately 40 films at this year’s festival and reporting on what stands out.
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