The 10 biggest blockbusters to ever premiere at Cannes

Worldwide box office: $377.4 million Quentin Tarantino has had quite a few of his films screened at Cannes (and in 2023, he’ll host a special screening at Directors Fortnight, though it doesn’t seem to be one of his own movies). , which premiered at the 2019 festival, is the third Tarantino feature to screen in competition. Though it didn’t win the Palme d’Or like Pulp Fiction, it did go on to gross , a healthy box office figure for a film out of Cannes. (It is not, however, Tarantino’s highest-grossing film ever; that distinction belongs to Django Unchained at ). [Mary Kate Carr]

Worldwide box office: $460 million, the from the early aughts, made its grand debut at Cannes in 2006. It’s the first movie from the franchise that premiered at the esteemed French film festival. While the Cannes audience got the first glimpse Jean Grey () rising from the ashes and turning into the Phoenix, The Last Stand switched directors from Bryan Singer to the disgraced Brett Ratner after X-Men and which impacted the quality. Despite tackling heavy themes like the consequences of Jean’s return, TLS lacked the emotional depth of the earlier films. But it looks like the Cannes debut helped anyway; the film went on to gross over $460 million worldwide. [Saloni Gajjar]

Worldwide box office: $621.5 million was another DreamWorks Animation success story that premiered out of Cannes. Given the success of the first film—which was nominated for multiple awards at the 2011 Oscars—it made sense for the sequel to debut out of competition at the French festival in 2014. The Jay Baruchel-led fantasy feature was warmly received, going on to garner the franchise more Oscar nominations and winning a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film. It also made a tidy $621.5 million at the box office. [Mary Kate Carr]

Worldwide box office: $631.7 millionAnimation might not be the genre we most associate with the Cannes Film Festival (the vaunted festival tends to conjure up images of serious dramas), but the animated films that premiere there often go on to the most success. DreamWorks Animation in particular has seen a lot of success (spoiler alert for this list’s #1 entry), with warm critical receptions on the Riviera giving way to big box office numbers. Such is the case with starring Jack Black and Angelina Jolie, which called a “masterpiece” upon the Cannes premiere, noting the “sustained applause” that the movie garnered. It also garnered a tidy at the box office after opening wide. [Mary Kate Carr]

Worldwide box office: $735 millionThe first animated film ever to open Cannes, premiered in all its existential, heart-wrenching glory at the 62nd iteration of the festival in 2009. At the time, welcoming 3-D animation into the Cannes fold was an exciting leap, with then-festival spokesman Thierry Fremaux “one of cinema’s upcoming adventures.” That premiere set the stage for not only a worldwide gross, but several ensuing Pixar debuts at Cannes, including Inside Out in , Soul in , and now Elemental, which will serve as this year’s closing night film. In a sweet reference to its beloved ancestor, Elemental’s premiere comes complete with an opening short titled “Carl’s Date,” which follows Up’s elderly protagonist dipping his toe back into the dating world (with the support of loyal canine sidekick Dug) after losing his wife Ellie. There’s nothing like a good full-circle moment. [Hattie Lindert]

Worldwide box office: $790 millionSetting the precedent for this year’s Cannes premiere, the fourth installment of the beloved franchise, made its debut at the 2008 festival. Steven Spielberg’s first film to bow at Cannes since E.T., the film is generally the least well regarded amongst the franchise (while critics were largely positive, the installment sits at 53% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a franchise low by a wide margin). Nevertheless, by 2008 Spielberg and star Harrison Ford had more than earned their welcome reception to the Cannes red carpet with cinema legend bonafides, and bringing back a legacy character after almost 20 years was received with plenty of goodwill at the festival and beyond, raking in just north of $790 million worldwide after its premiere. [Mary Kate Carr]

Worldwide box office: $793 million From launching a young Drew Barrymore’s career to revolutionizing animatronic technology, it’s hard to overstate the cultural impact Steven Spielberg’s had on cinema. That all began at Cannes, where E.T. premiered as the closing film at the 35th annual festival in May 1982. Released to the public a month later, E.T. went on to not only be critically revered but wildly successful; its nearly made E.T. the highest-grossing film of all time for over a decade (at which point Spielberg with the smash Jurassic Park). Still regarded as one of the greatest films of all time (and a highlight of Spielberg’s illustrious career), E.T. was added to the in 1994, underscoring its cultural significance. [Hattie Lindert]

Worldwide box office: $858.8 millionThere’s a lot to celebrate with Pete Docter’s 2015 animated film, Pixar’s lovely film about Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and her personified emotions tugs at the heartstrings. It also tugs at the purse, as the film made $858.8 million at the box office. The success was attributed to the star-studded cast and filmmaking, but it was a huge help that Inside Out premiered at Cannes in 2015 and was met with rave reviews. Who can resist that, right? [Saloni Gajjar]

Worldwide box office: $868.4 millionThe first Star Wars film to appear at Cannes was 2005’s . On one hand, it feels somewhat appropriate; the prequel trilogy’s final chapter is generally held up as its best, even if it’s a far cry from the quality of the original set. Revenge Of The Sith was billed as the not-your-father’s Star Wars; on top of the Cannes premiere, it was the first movie in the franchise to earn a PG-13 rating, and George Lucas went so far as to describe it as “Titanic in space.” “Obviously, fans would love to see a movie about Darth Vader running around, killing people,” Stateside. “I’m not telling that story, and I’m not interested in that.” Even if the franchise did eventually give fans exactly that, Revenge Of The Sith was, temporarily, the conclusion of the Skywalker story, and earned both critical acclaim and commercial success that the series hadn’t seen in over two decades. Ultimately, the film grossed $868.4 million worldwide. [Drew Gillis]