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EntertainmentPosted at: May 15 2025 6:22PM


78th Cannes Film Festival scales back on movie hype

Cannes, May 15 (UNI) The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has unfurled its red carpet with customary elegance, yet an unmistakable absence lingers; the opulent movie marketing stunts that once lit up the Croisette seem all but vanished.
In past editions, studios used Cannes as a playground for spectacle. Memorable moments include Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Jack Black riding into the Cannes harbour on a giant inflatable shark in 2004 to promote their animated “Shark Tale;” and Jerry Seinfeld’s infamous zip-lining off the Carlton Hotel in a giant bee costume in 2007 for “Bee Movie;” or the tasteful display of Blake Lively’s “The Shallows,” a 2016 shark survival thriller, which floated shark fins a la “Jaws” around the actor during a photo call. But now, the energy feels curiously subdued.
So far, "Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning" is the only film making a promotional push, with large screens playing the trailer near the famous Carlton Hotel.
It’s a far cry from 2022, when Paramount shelled out for a two-story recreation of an Air Force pilot helmet that showed scenes from that Cruise adventure in its giant visor. On balance, the studio did arrange an orchestra to play the “Mission: Impossible” theme music live at the film’s gala premiere this year, a feat that’s only been pulled off a handful of times (including a live performance from U2 at the top of the Palais steps in 2007), according to a report by Variety.
Film executives are wondering why there's such little buzz. “Where is the hype?” one top film executive at a streaming company asked Variety in passing at the beachside Majestic Hotel. So far, only “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” has ponied up to let the city (and the world) know it’s premiering in Cannes (and, more important, opening wide on May 21).
Some attribute the quieter tone to global economic uncertainty and tighter marketing budgets. Others argue the shift is strategic, with resources now being funneled toward more populist, algorithm-driven platforms like TikTok, where Cannes found its digital pulse this year in a live "fireside chat" featuring none other than Tom Cruise.
Even with the Monte Carlo Prix happening nearby and a "Formula One" film starring Brad Pitt releasing soon, studios have kept things quiet. As one veteran film sales agent quipped with a mix of irony and exasperation, “Why isn’t Brad Pitt’s face on a cocktail napkin at my hotel?” UNI NST SSP
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