Cannes, May 15 -- The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has unfurled its red carpet with customary elegance, yet an unmistakable absence lingers; the opulent movie marketing stunts that once lit up the Croisette seem all but vanished.
In past editions, studios used Cannes as a playground for spectacle. Memorable moments include Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Jack Black riding into the Cannes harbour on a giant inflatable shark in 2004 to promote their animated "Shark Tale;" and Jerry Seinfeld's infamous zip-lining off the Carlton Hotel in a giant bee costume in 2007 for "Bee Movie;" or the tasteful display of Blake Lively's "The Shallows," a 2016 shark survival thriller, which floated shark fins a la "Jaws" around the actor during a...