Scarlett Johansson on March 2, 2025; Harris Dickinson on Oct. 9, 2024. Photo:
Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty; Karwai Tang/WireImage
- Scarlett Johansson and Harris Dickinson are bringing their first-time directorial efforts to the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
- Johansson will debut her new movie Eleanor the Great, while Dickinson will screen a film he wrote and directed titled Urchin
- Other high-profile Cannes premieres include Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme
Scarlett Johansson and Harris Dickinson are moving into directing with high-profile premieres at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
On Thursday, April 10, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled first additions to its lineup that includes directorial debuts from Johansson, 40, and Dickinson, 28. The longtime Marvel actress and Jurassic World: Rebirth star will debut a movie titled Eleanor the Great in Cannes in May; that movie stars June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jessica Hecht. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it follows a 90-year-old woman from Florida who becomes friends with a 19-year-old in New York City.
Meanwhile, Dickinson — who most recently appeared on the big screen with Nicole Kidman in 2024’s erotic thriller Babygirl — is making his own directorial debut with Urchin, which he wrote himself; the movie follows a homeless man living in london, per THR.
Johansson and Dickinson’s names are among a starry list of filmmakers and actors who have films playing at the festival this year. Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix and Austin Butler will premiere their new movie Eddington, which they made with writer-director Ari Aster (Beau Is Afraid, Midsommar); Wes Anderson will debut The Phoenician Scheme, and Boyhood director Richard Linklater will be at the event with his latest New Wave as well.
Scarlett Johansson at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2023. VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty
Cannes’ lineup announcement comes after the festival confirmed that Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie will hold the world premiere of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning out of competition on May 14, the festival’s second night. Cruise last appeared at the festival in 2022 when he rolled out Top Gun: Maverick.
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Cannes will also feature a special screening of Stories of Surrender, an upcoming Apple TV+ documentary starring U2 lead singer Bono that the streamer describes as “a vivid reimagining of Bono’s critically acclaimed one-man stage show of the same name.”
Tom Cruise at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2022. Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic
“As he pulls back the curtain on a remarkable life and the family, friends and faith that have challenged and sustained him, he also reveals personal stories about his journey as a son, father, husband, activist and rock star,” an Apple TV+ synopsis reads. The documentary will release on the streamer May 30 following its Cannes premiere.
Filmmaker Spike Lee also announced via Instagram on Thursday, April 10 that he will debut his new movie Highest 2 Lowest, which stars Denzel Washington, at Cannes, though the movie was not included in the festival’s official lineup announcement.
The Cannes Film Festival will run from May 13 to May 24.
