Bruce Willis' Moonrise Kingdom to Open Cannes

The Moonrise Kingdom by director Wes Anderson, starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton will open the Cannes Film Festival 2012 running from 16 May to 27 May.

Anderson is famous for cult movies like The Royal Tenembaums, Rushmore and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Fantastic Mr Fox won him the Oscar for the best animated feature. According to the Telegraph, "He is well-known for his portrayals of quirky, flawed characters and his rigorous attention to framing and colour."

The Moonrise Kingdom will follow the path of Disney-Pixar's Up, RobinHood and Midnight in Paris, which have all been previously openers for the Cannes.

"Wes Anderson is one of the rising powers of American cinema, to which he brings a highly personal touch, particularly in Moonrise Kingdom, which once again is a testimony to the creative freedom in which he continues to evolve. Sensitive and independent, this admirer of Fellini and Renoir is also in his own right a brilliant and inventive filmmaker," artistic director of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Fremaux, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

The film, set in New England in the 1960s, will release on May 25 in the UK.

Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti will lead this year's Cannes festival jury.