The 2020 Cannes Film Festival has been postponed due to growing concerns of the coronavirus, festival organizers announced on Twitter on Thursday.
“Due to the health crisis and the development of the French and international situation, the Festival de Cannes will no longer be able to take place on the dates planned, from May 12 to 23,” organizers said on Twitter.
On the organization’s website, it read, “several options are considered in order to preserve its running, the main one being a simple postponement, in Cannes, until the end of June-beginning of July, 2020… As soon as the development of the French and international health situation will allow us to assess the real possibility, we will make our decision known, in accordance with our ongoing consultation with the French Government and Cannes’ City Hall as well as with the Festival’s Board Members, Film industry professionals and all the partners of the event.”
The 73rd annual festival was supposed to run May 12 to May 23. The festival has been held since 1946. On February 29, the French government banned gatherings of 5,000 people or more, and since then, the status of the film festival has been in jeopardy.
Previously, Cannes Film Festival president Pierre Lescure said in an interview that he was “reasonably optimistic” the coronavirus situation would improve in France but that he would be prepared to cancel the festival if the situation worsens.
As of Wednesday, France reported 264 total deaths due to the virus, with 9,134 cases in the country — that marked an 18 percent rise in just 24 hours, according to France24.
See the Twitter post below.
Due to the health crisis and the development of the French and international situation, the Festival de Cannes will no longer be able to take place on the dates planned, from May 12 to 23. More info #Cannes2020 ? https://t.co/peLmfw0gQW pic.twitter.com/SVWPasvU23
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) March 19, 2020