Even though the Cannes Film Festival is often the jumping-off point for some of the year's best films-- last year Inglourious Basterds, A Prophet, The White Ribbon and Up all debuted there-- the opening night film is usually a dubious distinction. Sometimes they hand it over to international auteurs-- Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education, Fernando Meirelles' Blindness-- and sometimes they go Hollywood-- The Da Vinci Code, Moulin Rouge!-- but more often than not the films are regarded as middling or, every once in a while, total failures.

Now joining their ranks is Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, which has been announced as the festival's opening night film. Slashfilm also collected a few other titles rumored to be heading to Cannes, including Woody Allen's You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (now that it has been bumped back to a September release), and maybe The Rum Diary, the Johnny Depp Hunter S. Thompson adaptation that's been kicking around for a while now.

We won't be covering Cannes this year, unless that Nigerian prince comes through with his promise of a few million, but we'll be following the buzz Stateside as usual. Robin Hood's U.S. premiere is May 14, just two days after Cannes opening night, so there's a decent chance critic screenings will have already taken place. Take that, France!