The Great Gatsby will open Cannes 2013

This has been a pretty slow week so far, but we got word today that The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan, will open the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in France. Gatsby was one of many victims of schedule changes by the studios and was originally set to be released on Christmas last year. The film was delayed until May 10, 2013.

This is a bit of an odd move seeing that the release date is 5 days before Cannes even starts, so it kind of defeats the purpose of "premiering" a film to open the festival. This will mark the second film directed by Baz Luhrmann to open Cannes and the third to be screened. In 1992 his film Strictly Ballroom was screened and in 2001 Moulin Rouge opened the festival.