The 66th Cannes Festival is opening with "The Great Gatsby" and Leonardo DiCaprio was on hand to kick off the 12 days of movies and lavish parties.
"Gatsby" makes its European premiere at the festival, following a prosperous opening weekend in the U.S. DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire were on hand to sign autographs at before walking the red carpet, according to People Magazine.
"Every time I go to Cannes it feels like I'm entering the helicopter scene in La Dolce Vita; it's an insane experience," said DiCaprio, according to People Magazine.
But the "Gatsby" stars are only the start of the list of celebrities predicted to make appearances at the event. Stephen Spielberg is serving as jury president of the festival this year, according to CBS News.
Emma Watson, who stars in Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring," premiering Thursday, Paris Hilton, Cannes jury member Nicole Kidman and Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welch are among stars making appearances at the festival on the French Riviera, People said.
Other stars expected to attend movie premieres and parties include Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, James Franco, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon and Rooney Mara.
The following films will compete for the Palme D'Or, the festival's top prize:
* "A Chateau in Italy" by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
* "Inside Llewyn Davis" by Ethan and Joel Coen
* "Michael Kohlhaas" by Arnaud Despallieres
* "Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)" by Arnaud Desplechin
* "Heli" by Amat Escalante
* "The Past" by Asghar Farhadi
* "The Immigrant" by James Gray
* "Grigris" by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
* "A Touch of Sin" by Jia Zhangke
* "Like Father, Like Son" by Kore-Eda Hirokazu
* "The Life of Adele" by Abdellatif Kechiche
* "Shield of Straw" by Takashi Miike
* "Young and Pretty" by Francois Ozon
* "Nebraska" by Alexander Payne
* "Venus in Fur" by Roman Polanski
* "Behind the Candelabra" by Steven Soderbergh
* "The Great Beauty" by Paolo Sorrentino
* "Borgman" by Alex van Warmerdam
* "Only God Forgives" by Nicolas Winding Refn
