Focus Features acquired world rights to the independently produced film . '' Moonrise Kingdom '' premiered on May 16 , 2012 , as the opening film at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival , Anderson 's first film to be screened there . Studio Canal released the film in French theaters on the same day . The U.S. limited release followed on May 25 , in New York City and Los Angeles . A short film , '' Cousin Ben Troop Screening with Jason Schwartzman '' , also directed by Anderson , was released on Funny or Die to promote the film . By its fifth week , the release was expanded to 395 theaters
2012 Cannes Film Festival
2012 Cannes Film Festival
Moonrise Kingdom