Fans bring Cannes to a standstill (From Epsom Guardian)

Fans bring Cannes to a standstill

7:14pm Wednesday 16th May 2012 in Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Hundreds of film fans brought the French town of Cannes to a standstill as they tried to catch a glimpse of the stars on the red carpet.

Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom, officially opened the festival and the Texas-born director was on the red carpet with the cast he said he thinks of as "family".

He told a press conference earlier in the day: "When we start it's a little bit of a reunion and I like to think now I have a bigger family to draw on.

"I hope that some of the friends that I've made on this movie will be available to me in the future.

"I have no real experience of the theatre but I sort of think of the movies I do as a bit like a theatre company."

The film, set in New England in the summer of 1965, revolves around the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the wilderness.

Fans cheered as they caught sight of some of the film's other well-known names, which includes Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and Tilda Swinton.

Murray was slightly more dapper in a black tuxedo than at the earlier press conference when he wore an eccentric green checked jacket with clashing checked shirt, but still managed to display some of his individuality with a brightly patterned bow tie as he joked around on the red carpet.

Blonde-haired Swinton, who plays a social worker in the film, dazzled in a floor-length soft pink gown.

The red carpet experience may have been a bizarre one for newcomers Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman who make their first appearances on the silver screen in Moonrise Kingdom.