HUNDREDS of film fans brought the French town of Cannes to a standstill as they tried to catch a glimpse of the stars on the red carpet.

Wes Anderson’s new film, Moonrise Kingdom, officially opened the festival and the Texas-born director was on the red carpet with the cast he said he thinks of as “family”.

He told a press conference earlier in the day: “When we start it’s a little bit of a reunion and I like to think now I have a bigger family to draw on.

“I hope that some of the friends that I’ve made on this movie will be available to me in the future.

“I have no real experience of the theatre but I sort of think of the movies I do as a bit like a theatre company.”

The film, set in New England in the summer of 1965, revolves around the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the wilderness.

Fans cheered as they caught sight of some of the film’s other well-known names, which includes Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and Tilda Swinton.

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