Cannes Report, Day 2: Tom Hardy Apologizes to ‘Mad Max’ Director, ‘The Office’ Upgrades to Big Screen

Hollywood yawned, stretched and then hit the luxurious pavements of the French Riviera on Thursday, one step closer to aligning with a new time zone as day two of the Cannes Film Festival got underway. Never underestimate the power of a good night’s rest — it can humble the likes of Tom Hardy.

Turning up for a photo call and press conference for “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Hardy apologized for his long-rumored frustration on the set of the desert epic.

“For seven months, I think the most complicated or most frustrating thing was trying to know what George wanted me to do at any given minute so I could fully transmute his vision,” Hardy told reporters.

Also Read: Cannes Wrap Cover Story: Isabelle Huppert Surveys Her Career, Her Life and Her Beloved Festival

“Because he’s orchestrating such a huge vehicle, literally, in so many departments, because the all the vehicles are moving and the whole movie is just motion, I have to apologize to you [looking at Miller] because I got frustrated. There was no way that George could have explained what he could see in the sand when we were out there … I knew he was brilliant, but I didn’t quite know how brilliant.”

They cleared the air just in time — the film opens wide in the U.S. on  Friday. As for other Day Two action:

 Calm Down, A Party Was Had

Coverage of the social scene in Cannes has been fraught with worry over a lack of excessive bashes and the social micro-economy that pops up around major festivals (we’re looking at you, Sundance). The opening night premiere of “Standing Tall” delivered a festive atmosphere and big stars in Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied, a stunning Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Watts, jury members Jake Gyllenhaal and Sienna Miller and actress and fashion favorite Fan BingBing. While Portman has been whipping up work left and right, her husband Millepied snagged a side gig at the festival: choreographing a ballet performance for revelers at the kick-off inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière.

Also Read: Cannes Parties: 12 Top Invites for 2015 Festival

Best Actress Victory Lap for Julianne Moore

Still glowing from her Best Actress Academy Award win for “Still Alice,” Julianne Moore turned up on the Croisette with no heavy lifting like selling or promoting a film. Instead, she’s the L’Oreal beauty ambassador, a star who attends the fest every year on behalf of the cosmetics giant.

Notable Deals

Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz will reteam after a memorable turn in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in EuropaCorp’s “Escobar,” TheWrap has learned. EuropaCorp will finance, distribute and produce the drama based on Virginia Vallejo’s 2008 best-selling Spanish language memoir “Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar” with Pinguin Films and Dean Nichols Productions. Written and directed by Fernando León de Aranoa (“A Perfect Day”), the film will follow the rise of Pablo Escobar — one of the most powerful drug lords of all time.

Also Read: Cannes Wrap Magazine Directors Portfolio: 10 Esteemed Auteurs Showing at the Festival (Photos)

Natalie Portman will play Jackie Kennedy in a new biopic, an individual with knowledge of the project has told TheWrap, and producers are currently shopping the script in Cannes. “Jackie” will be directed by Oscar-nominated Chilean director Pablo Larrain (“No”), and will examine the first lady’s life in the four days immediately following President Kennedy’s assassination. Darren Aronofsky is set to produce. He previously directed Portman to an Oscar win for her performance in his ballet drama “Black Swan.”

“The Office” will get a feature film treatment courtesy of BBC Films and Entertainment One. Ricky Gervais’ iconic character David Brent, which inspired Steve Carrell’s American take, will ride again with a script about the former office manager attempting to self-finance a tour for his rock band.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Our Little Sister” (“Umimachi Diary”), one of the first films to screen in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, from France’s WildBunch. The deal was announced by SPC on Thursday after the earliest screenings of the film but before its official Cannes premiere that night.