Cosmopolis and On The Road in Total Film's "15 Cannes 2012 Films We Can't Wait To See"

1. Cosmopolis

The Film: Probably the most eagerly hyped film at this year's festival, and one of the supposed frontrunners for the Palme d'Or, Cosmopolis marks David Cronenberg's return to the arena of the bizarre. Adapted from the novel by American author Don DeLillo, the film will follow Robert Pattinson's young billionaire on a journey into darkness as he discovers his fortune has evaporated, and decides to cut loose from conventional society. Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton and Jay Baruchel round out a pleasingly offbeat cast.

Why We're Excited: After a couple of enjoyable but conventional films in the form of A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises, we're looking forward to seeing Cronenberg return to the outer-limits of big screen storytelling.Cosmopolis represents the director's first self-penned script since 1999'seXistenZ, and from the looks of the clips and trailers we've seen so far, it promises to be deliciously weird. It also stands to catapult Pattinson out of the clutches of the soul-sapping Twilight series into a role more deserving of his talents. Put simply, we can't wait.

5. On The Road

The Film: The last time Walter Salles took a stab at a road movie, we were treated to the thouroughly entertaining Che Guevara biopic, The Motorcycle Diaries. Salles will be hoping to repeat the trick with his adaptation of Jack Kerouac's famous novel, the story of a would-be writer (a substitute for Kerouac himself) who joins the devil-may-care Dean Moriarty on a voyage of discovery across mid-20th century America. Sam Riley stars as wide-eyed protagonist Sal Paradise, with Garrett Hedlund landing what should be a peach of a role as Moriarty.

Why We're Excited: It's about time somebody took a stab at filming Kerouac's well-loved novel, and Salles is an exciting choice to bring it to life. While the counter-culture themes might not be so resonant today as when the book was first published, the cinematic narrative should still make for a cracking spectacle. Throw in an extremely talented supporting cast including the likes of Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi, Amy Adams and Kirsten Dunst, and you've got one of the most eagerly awaited films among this year's selection.

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