From World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy: “[Herewith] a chart of the most likely films to make it to Cannes official competition in July. There have been a lot of pieces from the trades speculating inaccurately about some films. I’d rather be on the cautious side. Yes, last-minute changes by Fremaux and his selection committee can happen in the blink of an eye. However, as we speak, these are the titles with the best shot as of 5.17.21 (HE = exceptional HE interest):

Serious Contenders:

“The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson) / HE
“Annette” (Leos Carax) / HE
“Ahed’s Knee” (Nadav Lapid)
“Memoria” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
“Benedetta” (Paul Verhoeven) / HE
“Tromperie” (Arnaud Desplechin) / HE
“Tres Piani” (Nanni Moretti)
“Where is Anne Frank?” (Ari Folman)
“A Hero” (Asghar Farhadi) / HE
“Triangle of Sadness” (Ruben Östlund)
“Bergman Island” (Mia Hansen-Love) / HE
“Flag Day” (Sean Penn) /
“Nobody’s Hero” (Alain Guiraudie)
“Drive My Car” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
“Petrov’s Flu” (Kirill Serebrennikov)
“Decision To Leave” (Park Chan-wook) / HE
“Another World” (Stephane Brizé)
“Paris, 13th District” (Jacques Audiard) / HE
“Titane” (Julia Ducournau) / HE
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” (Joel Coen) / HE
“In Front of Your Face” (Hong San-soo) / HE

Very possible:

“De Son Vivant” (Emmanuelle Bercot)
“The Worst Person in the World” (Joachim Trier)
“Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon” (Ana Lily Amirpoor)
“Everything Went Fine” (François Ozon)
“Wicked Games” (Ulrich Seidl)
“Algerien Par Accident” (Karim Aïnouz)

Longshots:

”Soggy Bottom” (Paul Thomas Anderson) / HE
“The Way of the Wind” (Terrence Malick) / HE
“The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion)
“Blonde” (Andrew Dominik) / HE
”The Hand of God” (Paolo Sorrentino) / HE
“The Green Knight” (David Lowery)
“Last Night in Soho” (Edgar Wright) / HE
“The Souvenir Pt. 2” (Joanna Hogg)