Brad Pitt & Nicole Kidman to Premiere at 2012 Cannes Film Festival

PARIS (Reuters) - Movies starring Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman will premiere in Cannes this year, as the world's biggest film festival held on the glamorous French Riviera promises a strong North American accent in 2012.

Films from U.S. director Wes Anderson and Canada's David Cronenberg will be among 22 films vying for the coveted "Palme d'Or", the top prize at the glitzy cinema showcase which can significantly boost a picture's box office and awards potential. Officials will be hoping that the blend of Hollywood star power and auteurs from around the globe will help the festival recover from last year's controversy when Danish director Lars Von Trier was expelled for making Nazi jokes during a press conference.

Wes Anderson's 1960s drama "Moonrise Kingdom," starring Ed Norton and Bill Murray, is set to kick off the May 16-27 festival, while Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis," starring "Twilight" hearthrob Robert Pattison, is also in the main running.

Nicole Kidman could appear on the Cannes red carpet to promote U.S. director Philip Kaufman's "Hemingway & Gellhorn", while "Killing Me Softly," from New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik, and co-starring "The Sopranos" James Gandolfini, features Brad Pitt investigating a heist during a mob-protected poker game.

At a press conference held in the grand salon of a Paris hotel flanked by this year's festival poster of Marilyn Monroe, organizers saluted great filmmakers from around the world.

"In a world that sacrifices everything to what's superficial, to the new-best-thing, to the lowest common denominator ... what counts, what makes us strong, is our passion for cinema and for those who make it: the great auteur filmmakers," said Cannes President Gilles Jacob.