Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are lending some Hollywood glamour to the Croisette as Robin Hood opens the 63rd Cannes Film Festival today.
New Zealand-born Crowe plays the 13th century archer alongside Australia's Blanchett as Maid Marion in an action-packed adaptation that suggests studio bosses at Universal Pictures may be looking at a sequel.
"There's no sort of cynicism with this, we don't have two other scripts under Ridley's hospital bed," Crowe told reporters after a press screening and ahead of the red carpet gala that officially kicks off the 12-day festival in Cannes.
"Obviously there's a figure in the studio heads' mind, if we pass a certain figure then they'll give us a call and say, 'well, tell the second part of the story', but there's no grand plan in that regard. It's theatre on a grand scale and it's an experience second to none, and if I had the opportunity to address what happens next with Ridley and Cate, then great, let's do it."
Scott was unable to be in France due to a knee operation.
Blanchett, who plays a feisty, independent version of Marion, also said she was not inspired by earlier incarnations like Audrey Hepburn's or Olivia de Havilland's.
"I always wanted to be Robin Hood rather than Maid Marion but the part was taken," she said. "They're not the ones I remember, to be honest, which was probably convenient because Ridley wasn't at all interested in the 'maiden in distress'."
Robin Hood is one of few US titles at this year's Cannes festival, an expensive if high-profile platform for movies, reflecting concerns over the broader economy and making the 2010 event relatively low-key in terms of star power.
It is being screened outside the 19-strong competition lineup in Cannes, in which the sole US entry is Doug Liman's Fair Game starring Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame, the CIA agent whose cover was blown in 2003, and Sean Penn.
Other highlights of the 12-day festival include Woody Allen's You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, which stars Naomi Watts, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto and Anna Friel, and Oliver Stone's Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps, both of which will also be shown out of competition. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is expected to appear for documentary Stones in Exile about the recording of the band's seminal album Exile on Main Street.
British hopes are pinned on new films from Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, both previous winners of the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize.
Leigh, who won the award in 1996 for Secrets And Lies and was nominated in 2002 for All Or Nothing, will be screening Another Year, starring Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville and Imelda Staunton. The comedy drama tells the story of a married couple, their friends and family over the course of a year.
Loach, who was honoured in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes The Barley, about the Irish Civil War, is a last-minute addition to the festival line-up. His project Route Irish is a thriller and love story based around private security contractors in Iraq.
Both films are in the running for the main prize, but face competition from movies such as Fair Game and Biutiful, the latest offering from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Kate Beckinsale, Benicio del Toro and Indian actor and director Shekhar Kapur will join jury president Tim Burton on the judging panel for the prestigious award, won last year by Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon.
The festival runs until May 23rd.
Katie Holly, producer of One Hundred Mornings and Tom Hall's upcoming Sensation , has been selected by the Irish Film Board to participate in the Producers on the Move platform at the festival. The scheme aims to enable 23 specially chosen up-and-coming producers to network with like-minded colleagues from around the world.