Here's the official press release (Acrobat file):

http://a69.g.akamai.net/7/69/7515/v1/img5.allocine.fr/img_cis/images/festivaldecannes/...se_2007_en.pdf

This a double-honor for Chinese director, Kar Wai Wong. Not only is it the first time that a film by a Chinese director was shown on the first night of the festival - it's also the first time a film by a Chinese director was the opening film. This should be an interesting film since Kar co-wrote it with novelist Lawrence Block, a prolific mystery novelist given Grand Master status by the Mystery Writers of America.

Here's the IMDB page on it:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0765120/

Originally, domestic websites said it would be released in theaters sometime in June. But now many of them just say "TBA." The first European releases aren't scheduled until October and November. So, when it will be at local theaters is only a guess.

The cast has some heavy hitters in it, too - Jude Law, David Strathairn, Tim Roth, Natalie Portman, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz, and constitutes the debut appearance of singer Norah Jones in her first feature film (and as the leading lady opposite Jude Law, too).

P.S. My ex is a major Norah Jones fan. She knows about the movie and read a recent interview, done while still filming the movie. In the interview (she showed me), one of the things I noticed was that Norah Jones said she was a nonsmoker.

Ahem ahem ahem. The following "behind-the-scenes" video appeared on a Korean language website, taken around the same time as the interview:

http://alecwest.com/norah_jude.rm (1.8 megs)

Both Norah and Jude Law are seen together during a break in filming, both smoking like smokestacks (snicker). Oh, well. The original file on the Korean site was FLV and I converted it to a 320x240 centered MPEG2 file, burning it to a DVD. My ex will get a copy (ain't I a stinker, hehe).