It was revealed back in January of this year that Italian filmmaker, Nanni Moretti, would be overseeing the 2012 committee as president of the jury – a role which was filled last year by Robert De Niro.

Following the recent announcement of Cannes’ 2012 official selection of films, the eight other jury members have have now also been revealed. We’ve got two Brits on the panel: Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who has recently been seen on screen in the film adapation of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and Andrea Arnold, the woman behind films such as Red Road and Fish Tank, which each won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2006 and 2009 respectively.

Joining them will be German actress Diane Kruger, who is perhaps best known not her performance in Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds, as well as Palestinian actress and director, Hiam Abbass and award-winning Haitian director and political activist, Raoul Peck.

There will also be two jurors hailing from France: actress Emmanuelle Devos, who appeared alongside Audrey Tautou in the 2009 fashion film, Coco Before Chanel, as well as real-life fashion designer, Jean Paul Gaultier. Whilst Gaultier (in particular) may not seem like an obvious choice to preside over the film festival, Cannes’ artistic director Thierry Fremaux justified the decision, stating, “We have a tradition of inviting people who we know are cinephiles but who are not necessarily in cinema.”

Despite the fact that an American presence has been said to feature strongly throughout this year’s line-up, Alexander Payne (who most recently directed The Descendants) completes the jury as the only US member.

The festival is due to kick off on 16th May, opening with Wes Anderson’s latest offering, Moonrise Kingdom. This is also one of the 22 films which will be competing for this year’s Palme d’Or (take a look at the full official selection here) – we’ll keep you posted!

Last year it was announced that George Lucas has been a busy man, digitally enhancing all six films in the franchise, ready to bring them back to theatres next month.

The move is yet another example of Hollywood’s attempt to make more money out of former releases. The Lion King 3D and Beauty and the Beast 3D have already been released, while James Cameron’s Titanic is coming to the big screen again in April.

The trouble with Lucas releasing all six films is, he’s releasing them in order. And I don’t mean the order of their original releases. If only that were true.

First up are the prequels, beginning with 1999′s Episode One: The Phantom Menace, which so happens to be the least popular of the entire franchise.

Yes, we have to sit through the first three in order, before we can enjoy the original classics in even greater glory. And while yes, Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith was a decent film, The Phantom Menace and Episode Two: Attack of the Clones, were not.

Despite the prequels being widely agreed to be inferior to the originals, Star Wars fans will no doubt flock in their thousands.

At the very least we can admire the posters, which are admittedly rather cool. The Phantom Menace promotion has placed emphasis on the best moments in the film: Darth Maul, the big race and the characters we know and love.

Perhaps they hope we will forget the existence of Jar Jar (who is noticeably absent from all advertising) and the slow moving plot?

The Phantom Menace opens 10th February 2012. The release dates of the other five films are yet to be announced.

So which release are you most looking forward to? Let us know!

Here is one of the posters! Click to view full size:

Ewan McGregor stars as a fisheries scientist, who is roped into implementing the plans of an ambitious Yemeni Sheik (Amr Waked) to start salmon fishing in the Gulf state by the UK Prime Minister’s press secretary, played by Kristin Scott-Thomas. Although he feels that the project is absurd, he soon finds himself falling for the Sheik’s legal representative, played by The Adjustment Bureau‘s Emily Blunt.

Based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has made the jump from page to screen with the help of Simon Beaufoy – who previously won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Slumdog Millionaire, which certainly bodes well for the film. In addition, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is produced by Paul Webster, who was also nominated for an Academy Award following his work on Atonement.

The trailer certainly seems to indicate that this film will give significant focus to the romantic sub-plot between the pair – which is perhaps unsurprising, coming from Dear John director, Lasse Hallström. However, since the novel was something of a political satire exploring the effects of media spin, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has the potential for some intelligent comedy, as well as a rather charming love story.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year, but it isn’t scheduled to reach UK screens until 9th March 2012. Meanwhile, take a look at the latest trailer below:

Nicholas Hoult has grown up handsomely since he starred in About a Boy, appearing in Skins, Clash of the Titans and X-Men: First Class. In this modern-day adaptation of the classic folktale Jack and the Beanstalk, he plays Jack, a young farmer who gets his hands on some magic beans. It seems as though he has missed out on reading Jack and the Beanstalk as a child however, as inevitably the beans end up sprouting into, yes you’ve guessed it, a massive beanstalk and it takes Jack’s home with it.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the beanstalk also takes Princess Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson (Alice in Wonderland, The Illusionist), on its journey upwards. Jack is then forced to undertake a rescue mission, which is not as easy as it might have been if the giants were not so mad at his kingdom.

Jack the Giant Killer is directed by Bryan Singer and follows the trend of fairytale re-makes that seems to be in the air at the moment. It will be third of its kind to be released in 2012, with Snow White adaptations Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman coming out in March and June respectively.

Jack the Giant Killer also features Ewan McGregor, Warwick Davis, Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Ewan Bremner and Love Actually‘s Bill Nighy. It will be released on 15 June 2012, so giants beware!

Here’s the trailer to get you in the mood:

With this mind, we take a look at other instances of the Doctor’s various incarnations making their way onto the big screen…

The EIFF is the longest continually-running film festival in the world, with the first festival being held in 1947 in a response to the Edinburgh’s International Festival refusal to include films within its programme. This year the festival is said to be going ‘back to basics’, with international and UK documentaries making up one third of the screenings.

This is partly due to a newly formed collaboration with the Sheffield Doc/Fest and partly due to re-branding decisions made by the festival’s new director, James Mullighan. In an effort to recapture the air of controversy that once surrounded the festival, Mullighan has stripped the event of the red carpets and photocalls which had become part of proceedings in recent years.

That’s not to say that a number of big names won’t be attending this year’s festival. Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall expected to attend the screening of her latest film, Meet Monica Velour, which is directed by Keith Bearden. Bill Nighy is also plans to attend the première of his MI5 spy film, Page Eight, which is directed by Sir David Hare.

Rock band, Kings of Leon, will also be premièring their documentary film, Talihina Sky, while Ewan McGregor and Eva Green star in sci-fi thriller, Perfect Sense, which will be receiving it’s first European screening during the festival.

Despite the fact that the festival has undergone significant cuts in its funding since last year, many of the events will either be free or cut-price tickets will be available. The programme also features a number of additional events, such as ‘Behind the Camera’, described as a ‘pop-up film school’ where festival-goers can meet filmmakers and gain industry insights.

We’ll keep you posted on all the festival action!

You might be forgiven for thinking that Boyle had enough on his plate since being announced as the artistic director for the 2012 Olympic games opening ceremony in London, but it seems the award-winning director already has plans in place for his next feature-length film.

Trance is reported to be an “art heist gone wrong, [with] the dark, sexy, hard-edged tone of Boyle films like Shallow Grave and Trainspotting“. The script was penned by fellow Brit, Joe Ahearne – the man behind Channel Four vampire series Ultraviolet, as well as the two-part BBC drama-documentary series, Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets.

The film is also set to see Boyle reunite with Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours producer, Christian Coulson. Casting in due to take place over the next couple of months, with filming already scheduled begin in September.

However, it might still be a while before this one reaches the big screen, as Boyle is reportedly planning to devote himself to the Olympic preparations from next January onwards, with final edits not taking place until after the ceremony in 2012.

Boyle has also recently spoken about plans to make a future instalment to the 28 Days Later franchise, as well as the fact he is still keen to reunite with Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor in an upcoming project. We’ll keep you posted!

The Brit Award-winning musician has already appeared in film’s such as Adulthood and 4.3.2.1, and is currently in the process of completing his first stint as a director for upcoming film, Ill Manors.

Now it seems he is set to take on his most high profile role to date, playing George Carter in a film version of British television police drama that lit up the Seventies, The Sweeney. Dennis Waterman originally played the character in the TV series, as well as the well as the two previously released feature length spin-offs.

The upcoming film will be directed by Nick Love, who made his name directing films such as The Football Factory, The Business and The Firm.

Drew has fought off stiff competition, with names such as Ewan McGregor, Daniel Craig, Orlando Bloom and Tom Hardy having been previously linked to the remake. He will star opposite Ray Winstone, who has been confirmed for the role of Jack Regan.

Filming is scheduled to begin in Autumn – we’ll keep you posted!

The Danish Girl is based on a novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, which was published back in 2000. Set in 1920s Copenhagen, it tells the story of Lili Elbe – the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Artist Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar Wegener to stand in for a female model, and when the paintings prove popular, she continues to use him as something of a muse. However, their marriage becomes strained when her husband begins to lament his life as a man, opting to become a woman – Lili Elbe – permanently. She thus becomes the first person to go under the knife in order to cross the gender divide.

Back in 2009, Let The Right One In director, Tomas Alfredson, was on board to make the film, which looked set to star Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman as Wegener and Elbe respectively. However, he was forced to drop out in order to direct Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, starring Colin Firth and Tom Hardy.

Theron also then announced her departure from the project, and was replaced by Gwyneth Paltrow. However, Paltrow was reported to have dropped the film after changes were made to filming locations.

Other actresses who have since been rumoured to be playing the part of Wegener include Uma Thurman and Marion Cotillard. Now, however, it seems that Weisz is attached to the role – whilst the transgendered lead will still be played by Kidman.

A new director has also been found in the form of Lasse Hallström – the man behind films such as Chocolat, Casanova and Dear John. The Swedish filmmaker is also currently finishing up on Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas.

The Danish Girl is due to begin filming this summer – let’s hope this project doesn’t suffer any further hold-ups!

Last Friday saw release of 127 Hours, the latest film from award-winning director Danny Boyle. 127 Hours tells the extraordinary real-life story of mountain climber Aron Ralston (played by James Franco), who became trapped by a boulder in Utah for more than five days and was forced to go to extreme lengths in order to survive.

However, this British director already has a fair few critically acclaimed films to his name. Think you know your Sunshine from your Slumdog? Take our quiz to find out!