Hollywood heads to Cannes as off-screen drama soars

The festival officially kicks off in the evening with an honorary award for Meryl Streep -- just one of a host of international A-listers flocking to the sun-drenched Cote d'Azur, where legendary directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola top the VIP guest list. Coppola's decades-in-the-making epic "Megalopolis," an Ancient Rome-inspired saga set in a corrupt modern-day city, is the most anticipated of this year's entries for the top prize Palme d'Or. "Cannes is important to him and he is important to Cannes.