Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' to compete for Palme d'Or at Cannes

The film had initially been planned to world premiere at Cannes last year before the pandemic led to the festival's cancellation

A still from 'The French Dispatch' by Wes Anderson. Searchlight Pictures

The latest film by US director Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch, will premiere at this year's Cannes film festival in the official competition, organisers said on Friday.

The film's star-studded cast includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothee Chalamet, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro and Saoirse Ronan, as well as French actors Lea Seydoux and Mathieu Amalric.

The film, initially planned to screen at Cannes in 2020 before the festival was cancelled because of Covid-19, "will have its world preview premiere in the Cannes competition", the festival tweeted.

It follows events at the French foreign news bureau of a Kansas newspaper set in a fictitious 20th-century French city.

Two other films have already been confirmed for the official selection which groups movies competing for the Palme d'Or, one of global cinema's top awards.

One is Annette, a musical film scheduled to open the festival, by Frenchman Leos Carax starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver and with 1970s pop duo Sparks contributing the score and, in collaboration with Carax, the screenplay.

The other is Benedetta by Dutchman Paul Verhoeven, famous for Basic Instinct. The full line-up of the official competition will be announced on Thursday.

At the last Cannes festival in 2019 the Palme d'Or went to South Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho.

The festival, the world's biggest film gathering usually held in May, was this year postponed by nearly two months because of Covid-19 restrictions and is now scheduled for Tuesday, July 6 to Saturday, July 17.

US director Spike Lee will head up the main jury.