Baz Luhrmann directed Great Gatsby to open Cannes Film Festival

The Great Gatsby reunites Leonardo DiCaprio with director Baz Luhrmann. Picture: Village Roadshow / Warner Bros Source: Supplied

Vicky Roach, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Baz Luhrmann's hotly-anticipated 3D film adaptation of The Great Gatsby is to open the Cannes Film Festival.

"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,'' said Luhrmann.

The film, which was shot in Sydney and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the title character, will screen out of competition on May 15.

It is scheduled to open in the US on May 10 and Australia on May 30.

Lurhmann has a long association with the prestigious event. Strictly Ballroom was selected for a midnight screening in 1992. The reaction was so positive that the independently financed film sold around the globe.

And Moulin Rouge! opened the festival in 2001, where it screened in competition, making it eligible for the Palme D'Or, the festival's top prize.