Baz Luhrmann’s new film will screen outside the competition on May 15

Mar 13, 2013 07:46 GMT  ·  By

Baz Luhrmann returns to the Cannes Film Festival with his brand new film, the much talked about “The Great Gatsby” with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan as leads.

The film, which is already getting a lot of hype online, will open the festival on May 15, screening at the Grand Théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals outside of the actual competition, The Wrap informs.

It is scheduled for wide theatrical release that same month.

“We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film ‘Strictly Ballroom’ was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael,” the Australian director says in a statement to the aforementioned media outlet.

If anyone could bring Fitzgerald’s amazing novel to the big screen, Luhrmann is probably it: the director is known for his colorful, extravagant, retro and gorgeous style, and has already taken on a couple of classics, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge,” with excellent results.