After debuting at the box office and raking in $50.1 million over the weekend, “The Great Gatsby” was shown to kick off the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The festival got off to a nasty start with heavy rains and wind, but as the old saying goes, “the show must go on,” and it did.  “Gatsby” stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan were present at the opening ceremony.  The fans were thrilled as the stars made their way down the red carpet, despite the soggy conditions.

Steven Spielberg, who is serving as the president of the jury for the festival, was also present at the ceremony and kicked off things by saying, “I expect to be surprised, I expect to be moved” by the 20 films that will be shown over the 12-day festival.

Typically movies like “The Great Gatsby” that have already premiered aren’t used to open the Cannes Film Festival, but the powers that be must have been anticipating a dose of The Roaring Twenties and the grandiosity that makes up “The Great Gatsby” just as much as the fans.

“The Great Gatsby” was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 (also the author of the short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” that was later turned into a film of the same name starring Brad Pitt).  Since nearly everyone who has made it through high school has read the novel, a lot of buzz has been generated for the film.  So much interest has been generated that the novel has made it to the top of the best sellers list nearly 90 years later.  While the “Gatsby” film isn’t the only film adaptation (there have been four others), this is certainly the biggest production. Director Baz Luhrmann’s version had a budget of $105 million.

Reviews for “Gatsby” have been split, with some critics being completely enamored with the film and others thinking it was too over-the-top.  The film has received 2.5 stars out of 5 on the Rotten Tomatoes scale, with 88 critics giving the film a Fresh rating and 87 giving it a Rotten rating (to show just how split the opinions are).  Rick Groen of Globe and Mail calls the film “a terrific adaptation” while Connie Ogle of Miami Herald thinks the movie is a “failure.”

Regardless of what the critics think, Luhrmann isn’t letting any negative views get in the way of a good time at Cannes.  “I just care people are going out and seeing it,” he commented.  Since the film raked in half of its budget in the opening weekend, Luhrmann should rest easy and enjoy his time in the spotlight at the world’s most prestigious film festival.