Marion Cotillard's new World War Two romantic drama From the Land of the Moon has been tipped to win this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Adapted from the novel by Milena Agus, the Nicole Garcia-directed film stars Cotillard as a woman caught in a dull marriage who is drawn to another man.
Agus' acclaimed debut novel follows the troubled marital life of a Sardinian woman at the end of World War Two. She is obliged to marry a widower who regularly frequents the local brothel and is arrogant and insensitive to his new bride.
Following a series of miscarriages, Cotillard's character is sent to thermal baths on the Italian mainland for a cure, where she becomes amorously involved with a married war veteran.
A scene from From the Land of the Moon
Sundance Selects has picked up the film for a US release and it is scheduled to open in France in October.
Cotillard will be seen later this year in Assassin's Creed, a prequel to the video game Assassin's Creed II, which also stars Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch, a descendant of 15th century Spanish assassin Aguilar. Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson also star in the film, which is set to open worldwide in December.
Also due this year is the French movie, Juste La Fin de Monde - It's Only the End of the World - in which Cotillard stars alongside veteran French actress Nathalie Baye.
Meanwhile, in pre-production is Les Fantomes d'Ismael, which stars Cotillard and Mathieu Amalric (Quantum of Solace, The Grand Budapest Hotel).
Cotillard won the Best Actress gong for her role as the ill-starred singer Edith Piaf in the movie La Vie en Rose at the 2008 Academy Awards.
