Foster Cans Cannes

Jodie Foster has had to resign her role as the head of this year's Cannes Film Festival jury, due to new work commitments on David Fincher's Panic Room. And it's all down to an injured shoulder and an injured knee, neither of which are hers. Russell Crowe badly hurt his shoulder during the filming of Gladiator, which derailed the circus movie Flora Plum that Foster was to direct. And Nicole Kidman suffered a knee injury during the filming of Moulin Rouge, which has since flared up again, meaning she had to drop out of Fincher's follow-up to Fight Club. So with a gap in her schedule, and a gap for a leading lady in The Panic Room, Foster committed to the role. Unfortunately, this means the two-time Oscar-winning actress has had to cancel her plan to head the jury at the 54th Cannes Film Festival. Her shooting schedule on Fincher's claustrophobic thriller would, she said, conflict with the May 9-20 festival dates. The choice of Foster for jury duty was widely regarded as a move by Gilles Jacob, the festival's president, to forge closer relations with Hollywood. In a statement Foster said she hoped she would be asked to preside over the jury again. "I've dreamed since my childhood of having the honour of being president of the Cannes jury," she said recently.