The Real Stars of Cannes May Be the Dogs 

Eddie Peng poses with his dog Xin during an interview for the film "Black Dog" at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP)
Eddie Peng poses with his dog Xin during an interview for the film "Black Dog" at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP)
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The Real Stars of Cannes May Be the Dogs 

Eddie Peng poses with his dog Xin during an interview for the film "Black Dog" at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP)
Eddie Peng poses with his dog Xin during an interview for the film "Black Dog" at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP)

It’s been a dog’s life at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — or should that be the Canine Film Festival?

Since the 77th edition’s opening day, human actors have shared the limelight with their canine co-stars on and off the red carpet, kept secure by the perky sniffer dogs that dart around the press ladder and tripods ahead of every premiere.

It all started with Messi, from last year’s Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” and the reigning Palm Dog champion. He was first out when the festival opened last Tuesday, flouting the carpet’s strict black-tie protocols.

Sans the obligatory bow tie or clothes of any sort, the in-demand border collie performed tricks up the famous steps of the Palais des Festivals. In town this year as a correspondent for French television, he’s been spotted up and down Cannes’ famed Croisette, taking selfies with fans.

Riding on Messi’s purely proverbial coattails was Felicity, a Samoyed ambassador for the London-based charity NoToDogMeat, which rescued her from China’s meat trade. Felicity wore a custom-made gold gown for her red-carpet moment, posing for the cameras like a pro — it was, after all, her second year in a row at the festival.

Meanwhile, Demi Moore jetted into town with her tiny chihuahua Pilaf to promote the body-horror film “The Substance.” The teeny pooch was front and center of the photocall. Even after Moore spent six to eight hours in the makeup chair with only her eyes visible, Pilaf always recognized her during filming: “That’s all that counted. My touchstone of reality,” the actor said at the movie’s press conference.

And while Pilaf only made it to Cannes as a plus-one, there were two leading dogs in town to promote their movies.

Swiss comedy “Dog on Trial” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section, directed by and starring Laetitia Dosch. Based on a real case, the French-language film tells the story of a defense lawyer who takes on Cosmos, an aggressive dog facing legal action, as a client.

The titular dog is played by Kodi, a griffon, who Dosch says is really the star of the movie. It was important to her that Kodi had his name on the credits and the film poster and would be by her side in Cannes. A comedy-drama with a feminist outlook, “Dog on Trial” is about exploitation, Dosch says — and she has an offbeat theory as to what women and dogs have in common.

Also competing in Un Certain Regard — which curates a lineup of original and daring films — is another dog-centered drama, “Gou Zhen” (“Black Dog”) from the Chinese director Guan Hu. In it, Taiwanese superstar Eddie Peng plays Lang, who’s charged with removing stray dogs from his hometown on government orders ahead of the Olympic Games. One particular dog has a profound impact on Lang — and, as it turns out, on the actor himself.

Peng built up such a bond with his canine co-star Xin, a Jack Russell-greyhound cross, that he adopted her after filming ended and credits her for changing his outlook on life.

“They act truthfully,” Peng says of dogs, on a stroll around the Cannes harborfront with Xin, who accompanied him to France. “They don’t, you know, they don’t put on the mask. They don’t care about who you are or whether you’re famous or not, how much money you make.”

When he comes home, she jumps up like it’s the happiest moment of her entire life: “I think that’s something that we all need to learn from.”

She’s also changed the way he approaches acting, abandoning much backstory and preparation.

“Animals are just so present, you know. It will be so obvious somehow, if you are overacting,” he says.

Both Kodi and Xin are surely contenders for this year’s Palm Dog, an unofficial award created by journalists recognizing the best chien in show biz. Contest creator Toby Rose is giving nothing away ahead of Friday’s ceremony, but said this year started auspiciously with Palm Dog 2023 winner Messi and “is without doubt set to be a vintage Palm Dog year.”

In Peng’s view, Xin is already a winner. He might be a household name in Asia, but it’s Xin who is getting the lion’s share of the adoration in Cannes. Since the film screened earlier this week, Peng says she’s been recognized on the streets.

“Maybe in the future I don’t need to work anymore,” he says. “I’ll just be the agent with my dog.”



An Emotional Win for Theaters, Hollywood: ‘Inside Out 2’ Scores Massive $155 Million Opening

 This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP)
This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP)
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An Emotional Win for Theaters, Hollywood: ‘Inside Out 2’ Scores Massive $155 Million Opening

 This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP)
This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP)

Hollywood’s summer movie anxieties gave way to joy this weekend with the massive debut of Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” The animated sequel earned $155 million in ticket sales from 4,440 theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Not only is it the second-highest opening weekend in Pixar’s nearly 29 years of making films and the second-biggest animated opening ever (behind only the $182.7 million launch of “Incredibles 2” in 2018). It’s also the biggest of 2024, which had not had any films debut over $100 million. With an estimated $140 million from international showings, “Inside Out 2” had a staggering, and record-breaking, $295 million global debut.

The success is significant for Pixar, marking a much-needed return to form for a studio that has had a string of underwhelming launches including “Elemental,” which did eventually become a success, and “Lightyear,” which didn’t. It’s also vitally important for the greater Hollywood ecosystem and the health of theatrical exhibition, which had been running at a 26% deficit before this weekend. “Inside Out 2” marks the biggest opening since “Barbie” launched to $162 million last July.

"This is a monumental weekend for movie theaters," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

Kelsey Mann directed “Inside Out 2,” which picks up with Riley as she turns 13. That means the arrival of new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) to the mix. Amy Poehler once again lent her voice to Joy in a cast that also includes Tony Hale, Lewis Black and Phyllis Smith as Sadness.

It got glowing reviews from critics (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and polled audiences who gave it an A CinemaScore, suggesting that this won’t be a first-weekend wonder either. With kids out of school and an open market until “Despicable Me 4” enters the ring over the Fourth of July, “Inside Out 2” is just getting started.

“Inside Out 2” is estimated to have cost around $200 million to produce, which does not account for the millions spent on marketing. Going into the weekend, it was tracking for a debut in the $90 million range, which would have been in line with “Inside Out’s” first weekend in June 2019. Even that would have been considered a terrific achievement, and enough to claim the biggest opening of the year — finally unseating March releases like “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong.”

It got off to a huge start with $13 million from Thursday preview showings, which started at 3 p.m. As the only major release of the weekend, its theatrical footprint was equally impressive playing on 400 IMAX screens, over 900 “premium large format” screens and over 2,500 3D screens.

“The family audience still loves going to the movies,” Dergarabedian said. “As an outside of the home experience, it’s still a relative bargain.”

This recommitment to theatrical comes after Disney sent several Pixar films straight to its streaming service, Disney+, over the pandemic including “Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red.” Last month, the New York Times reported that Pixar had decided to return its focus to feature films (and not producing shows for Disney+) and that it had laid off 14% of its workforce (about 175 employees).

“As important as this weekend is for the industry at large, for Pixar this is huge. They’ve been trying to get their groove back since the pandemic,” Dergarabedian said. “Pixar had for decades one of the most impressive box office track records ever. They’ve really come back big.”

Second place went to Sony's “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” now in its second weekend with $33 million, down only 42% from its opening. In just 12 days, it's already earned over $112 million domestically and $214 million globally. As of Friday, the four-film franchise had crossed the $1 billion mark.

“Bad Boys'” success last weekend was the start of a higher-earning turnaround for the lagging summer movie season. For Hollywood, the summer season, which runs from the first weekend in May through Labor Day, usually represents about 40% of the yearly box office. The deficit is still significant, with ticket sales down 28% for the summer and 24% for the year (and this is still before “Barbenheimer”) but it's progress in a more promising direction nonetheless.

“We're not going to get there overnight,” Dergarabedian said. “But it’s good news for theaters. And we have some big movies on the way.”