Cannes Film Festival president Pierre Lescure said in an interview that he was “reasonably optimistic” the coronavirus situation would improve in France but that he would be prepared to cancel the festival if the situation worsens.
“We remain reasonably optimistic in the hope that the peak of the epidemic will be reached at the end of March and that we will breathe a little better in April,” Lescure told the French newspaper Le Figaro. “But we are not oblivious. If not, we’ll cancel.”
The 73rd edition of Cannes is scheduled to run between May 12-23, and the festival is expected to release its lineup of films on April 16.
However, several French festivals have already been canceled in the country as the number of COVID-19 cases rise. The television market MIPTV scheduled for late March was canceled, and on Wednesday, news came in that the Series Mania festival covering television scheduled for April in Lille was also canceled.
Lescure likewise addressed a story in Variety published Tuesday that said that Cannes would not be covered by insurance in the event of a cancellation. The story noted that Cannes had turned down the right to obtain coverage, but Lescure said that the policy offered to them by insurer Circle Group would not have been sufficient to cover their losses.
“This offer was made to us about ten days ago, but it was totally disproportionate. We were only offered to cover ourselves up to 2 million euros while our budget is 32 million. It was really peanuts,” Lescure said, adding that he remains “optimistic” and that the festival would be prepared to take some losses for this year should the festival be canceled.
“It doesn’t matter because we have reservations,” he said. “The endowment fund that we have set up allows us to face at least one year without revenue.”
France has reported 1,784 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 33 deaths, making it second to only Italy in severity in Europe.
Jesse Eisenberg, Antonio Banderas and 19 More Portraits From TheWrap's Cannes Studio (Photos)
Stars and filmmakers stop by TheWrap's studio at La Journée by The Land
Actor Antonio Banderas, "Pain and Glory"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Leonardo Sbaraglia, "Pain and Glory"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Emily Beecham, "Little Joe"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actres Lu Huang, "Blind Mountain" and "Summer of Changsha"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actor Jesse Eisenberg, "Vivarium"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Writer-director Lorcan Finnegan, "Vivarium"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actress Leyna Bloom, "Port Authority"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Writer-director Pippa Bianco, "Share"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Director Claude Lelouch, "The Best Years of a Life"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actress Marianne Denicourt, director Claude Lelouch and actress Monica Bellucci, "The Best Years of a Life"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Director Ladj Ly, "Les Misérables"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Director Karim Ainouz, "The Invisible Life"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Director Johnny Ma, "To Live to Sing"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Directors Edward Watts and Waad Al Kateab, "For Sama"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Writer-director Christophe Honoré, "On a Magical Night"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Christophe Honoré and actress Chiara Mastroianni, "On a Magical Night"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Cinematographer Benoît Debie, "Lux Æterna"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actress Anna Fishbeyn, "Galaxy 360"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Producer Alexander Rodnyansky, actress Viktoria Miroshnichenko, actress Vasilisa Perelygina and director Kantemir Balagov, "Beanpole"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Producer Alexander Rodnyansky and "Beanpole" director Kantemir Balagov
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Actors Antonio Banderas and Leonardo Sbaraglia, "Pain and Glory"
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Members of the Monaco-based International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA)
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
Monaco’s IEFTA
Photographed by Kris Dewitte for TheWrap
1 of 24
Stars and filmmakers stop by TheWrap’s studio at La Journée by The Land
Stars and filmmakers stop by TheWrap's studio at La Journée by The Land