PARIS: Movie heavyweights will line up in race for Cannes glory on Wednesday.

Heavyweights David Cronenberg, the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Luc Godard, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach are among the film-makers who will battle it out for the top Palme d’Or prize at the 67th Cannes Film Festival.

Launching the 12-day movie extravaganza with a blast of controversy will be the premiere of “Grace of Monaco,” the keenly awaited biopic in which Nicole Kidman stars as the former Hollywood actress Grace Kelly.

Already embroiled in not just one but two rows, the film has become a high stakes affair for French director Olivier Dahan who has taken on both Grace’s princely family, the Grimaldis, and US distributor Harvey Weinstein in pursuit of his cinematic vision.

Dahan and Weinstein have been locked in a dispute for months over what the Frenchman has called Weinstein’s “catastrophic” alternative version of the film.

Dahan’s edit will be the one shown at Cannes but reports say Oscar-focused Weinstein is still not happy and wants more scenes for US audiences covering the actress’s time in Hollywood.

Grace’s children, who are not expected at the premiere, have denounced the film’s trailer as a “farce” and accused its makers of hijacking their family history for commercial purposes.

There will, however, be no shortage of star-wattage with Meryl Streep, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Tim Roth and Kristen Stewart among the red carpet possibles.

Double Oscar winner Sophia Loren, 79, one of the last great sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, will supply some old-school glamor when she attends an out-of-competition screening of her latest film “The Human Voice.”

All eyes will also be on debuts by Canadians Ryan Gosling and Xavier Dolan.

Gosling’s “Lost River” — in the new talent Un Certain Regard section — will test if the 33-year-old “Drive” star can make the transition from leading man to director.

And wonderkid Dolan — who at 25 has already had three films screened at Cannes — will make his debut in competition with “Mommy.”

Eighteen films will be in the running for this year’s Palme d’Or with New Zealand director Jane Campion heading the festival jury.