After years of faintly disastrous picks that meant the reputation of the Cannes opener was somewhat sullied, the festival, the world’s most prestigious, has stepped up its game in the last few years. Of the last four years, three of the Opening Night films — Pixar’s “Up,” Woody Allen’s “Midnight In Paris” and Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” went on to wide acclaim and success around the world (the outlier, Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” which kicked off the festival in 2010, not so much).

It remains to be see whether the 2013 opener matches their success, but it’s certainly going to be as high-profile as the previous films, as organizers have announced, per The Hollywood Reporter, that Baz Luhrmann’s eagerly-anticipated adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” will get the festival going on May 15th.

The film had been heavily rumored for the slot for some time: although it opens in the U.S. the week before, and in France on the same day, it’s the kind of prestigious, glittery launch that would do the film a lot of good on the international scene, as well as mirroring Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!,” which opened the festival in 2001. It’s expected that the director, stars (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, and Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan), and Jay-Z, who’s behind the music for the film, will all attend.

Luhrmann commented “It is a great honor for all those who have worked on ‘The Great Gatsby‘ to open the Cannes Film Festival,” Luhrmann said in a statement. “We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film, ‘Strictly Ballroom,’ was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael.”

So is this a good sign for the quality of the film? Or perhaps just a star-studded stop on the publicity tour? It’d be more comforting if we find out that, as with “Moonrise Kingdom” last year, the film is also in competition at the festival, but that’s a relative rarity, and one that we’d be surprised was repeated this year. Still, it won’t be long til we find out how the film turns out; the film opens in the U.S. on May 10th. And worst comes to worst, we’re sure the afterparty will be something special…

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Bafta award-winning actress Carey Mulligan raised $95,000 in the fight against dementia this weekend, when she was a guest at the ASMALLWORLD gala dinner at Gstaad Palace Hotel, Switzerland.

Hosted by Chairman Patrick Liotard-Vogt and CEO Sabine Helle, the evening included a charity raffle featuring luxury prizes for all tastes. Asked to nominate a charity to receive funds from the event, Carey nominated Alzheimer’s Society, in tribute to her grandmother who is living with the condition.

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society said: “We are so grateful to Carey for her ongoing support. This year, she has gone out of her way to help us support people with dementia and their carers by getting involved in a whole host of fundraising and awareness activities.

“This month, she has been supporting us with our Christmas awareness campaign ‘xmas2remember’ and has now also raised a huge amount of money for us in just one night! We would like to offer Carey our sincerest thanks. As a charity, we rely on everyone’s generosity to help us raise awareness of a condition that currently affects 800,000 people across the UK.”

This Christmas Alzheimer’s Society wants people to tell us about their favourite Christmas memory – it can be funny, sad, silly or serious. Write a memory on a piece of paper, take a photo and tweet using #xmas2remember or comment at www.facebook.com/alzheimerssocietyuk

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Carey Mulligan will share Christmas memories of her grandmother to launch a campaign promoting awareness of Alzheimer’s during the festive season at Downing Street today.

The Oscar-nominated Pride and Prejudice actress will be joined by Dominic Batty, who has dementia, and his wife Jill to hang a Dementia Friends bauble on the Number 10 Christmas tree as part of Alzheimer’s Society’s Xmas 2 Remember campaign.

Mulligan, whose grandmother “Nans” has dementia, is encouraging people returning home for Christmas to look out for signs that a loved one may be living with dementia.

The society says that awareness of the condition is particularly important during the festive season when people may be seeing relatives for the first time in months and notice changes in their behaviour.

The actress, who is also an Alzheimer’s Society ambassador, said: “My favourite Christmas memory is every Christmas we spent with my grandmother. She used to alternate between us and our cousins and every year we were lucky enough to have her was particularly precious.”

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The Playlist are reporting that Nancy and Danny has now been renamed Hold On To Me, and that Twilight‘s Robert Pattinson will be starring opposite Carey:

Pattinson will join Carey Mulligan in the previously announced “Nancy And Danny” which is now called “Hold On To Me.” But this isn’t some swoony romance. Pennedy by Brad Ingelsby (“Out Of The Furnace”), and set to be directed by James Marsh (“Project Nim,” “Shadow Dancer”) the story follows a money hungry woman, whose life didn’t turn out the way she wanted, who uses a man as a pawn to help land her high school crush in a get-rich-quick scheme. And that plan is to bury the town’s richest man in box and hold him for ransom, but of course, things don’t go as their supposed to.

Warner Bros. will open Baz Luhrmann’s 3D film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby on May 10, 2013, a high-profile summer date.

Headlining Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie will begin its international rollout a week later. The Great Gatsby also stars Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke.

Gatsby originally was scheduled to open Christmas 2012 but was pushed back to allow more time for postproduction.

“Audiences have been looking forward to Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of one of the most beloved books of all time, and we felt this beautifully extravagant and dramatic film would be a perfect way for us to kick off the summer slate,” said Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, who announced the release date with Warner Bros. president of international distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.

Lurhmann co-wrote the adapted script with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce. He also is a producer alongside Catherine Martin, Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick and Catherine Knapman.

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Carey Mulligan is in negotiations to star in Nancy and Danny, a thriller being developed by Indian Paintbrush.

Set in a small town, the project concerns a money-hungry woman (Mulligan) whose big-city dreams failed. In order to land a high school crush, she uses a hapless man as a pawn in a get-rich-quick scheme that quickly goes wrong.

The project is said to be in the vein of To Die For, Gus Van Sant’s 1995 black comedy that featured a breakout performance by Nicole Kidman. Sources said Mulligan pursued the part.

Brad Inglesby wrote the script for Nancy, which is being produced by Alexandra Milchan of EMJAG Productions, Indian Paintbrush’ Steven Rales and Mark Roybal as well as Todd Field. James Marsh, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed documentary Man on a Wire, is on board to direct. Brad Ingelsby wrote the script.

Mulligan, who last year co-starred in Drive and Shame, next will be seen in The Great Gatsby. The Baz Luhrmann-directed adaptation just moved its release date from December to summer 2013.

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In a surprise move, Warner Bros. has pushed back Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby from Dec. 25 to summer 2013.

The 3D epic, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton.

“Based on what we’ve seen, Baz Luhrmann’s incredible work is all we anticipated and so much more. It truly brings Fitzgerald’s American classic to life in a completely immersive, visually stunning and exiting way. We think movieogers of all ages are going to embrace it, and it makes sense to ensure this unique film reaches the largest audience possible,” said Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, who announced the move with international distribution president Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.

Great Gatsby was considered a prime awards contender for Warners, but the studio isn’t left without contenders between Ben Affleck’s Argo (Oct. 12), Cloud Atlas (Oct. 26) and New Line’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dec. 14), from director Peter Jackson.

It used to be virtually taboo for a Hollywood studio to push back the release date of a high-profile title, but more and more, studios are doing just that for a variety of reasons.

One specific issue facing Great Gatsby: DiCaprio stars in another 2012 Christmas Day movie, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

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In this months’ issue of Empire Magazine there is a great in-depth look at The Great Gatsby. Scans from the magazine have been added to the gallery, enjoy!

Gallery Links
Press > from 2012 > Jul | Empire

Actress Carey Mulligan is urging members of the public to put on their walking shoes and support Memory Walk. In its eleventh year, Memory Walk is Alzheimer’s Society’s biggest annual fundraiser. Events will take place around the UK throughout September.

Carey, whose grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago, is asking families and individuals to step out for a few hours and raise money to help support local people with dementia and their carers. A variety of entertainment and refreshments will be available making it a day to remember for the whole family.

There are 750,000 people with dementia in the UK. The money raised from Memory Walk will help to fund vital local services for people with dementia and their carers. Such services include day support and befriending which can radically improve people’s lives.

Memory Walk 2012 is being held by Alzheimer’s Society in partnership with Bupa. Walks will take place at various venues across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are open to people of all ages, children to grandparents.

Kathryn Betts, from Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘Memory Walk is a fantastic way to spend a day. Families, friends, colleagues and individuals can walk together to raise money to help local people with dementia. Additionally an array of entertainment and refreshments will be available making it a day to remember for everyone who takes part.

‘Thanks to the support of Bupa, Memory Walk is able to support more people living with dementia through the vital funds that are raised.’

To register for the Memory Walk visit memorywalk.org.uk

Today, the lovely Carey Mulligan turns 27, and we here at Carey Mulligan Online wish her the happiest of birthdays, and cannot wait to see all her upcoming projects, especially The Great Gatsby!

Feel free to leave your birthday messages to Carey in the comments