( The Hollywood Reporter ) '' Grace of Monaco , '' starring Nicole Kidman as star-turned-princess Grace Kelly , is heading straight to Lifetime . The critically-panned film , which opened last year 's Cannes Film Festival , will premiere on Lifetime on Memorial Day , May 25 . After the movie performed poorly in its international engagements , The Weinstein Co. , which first purchased U.S. distribution rights at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival , decided to sell it directly to Lifetime rather than book it into U.S. theaters , a source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter . THR : Grace of Monaco ' Cannes review . The film , which was directed by Olivier Dahan and focuses on a period in the early '60s when Monaco was involved in a stand-off over taxes with France and Grace was contemplating a return to Hollywood , was originally scheduled for release in late 2013 . Given the names involved , some handicappers had put it on their list of potential Oscar contenders . But when TWC pulled it out of awards contention and shifted its release to March 14 , 2014 , Dahan lashed out at TWC 's Harvey Weinstein , over the movie 's final cut , which the director was in the process of completing . `` There are two versions of the film for now , mine and his , '' Dahan complained , continuing , `` They want a commercial film smelling of daisies , taking out anything that exceeds that which is too abrupt , anything that makes it cinematic and breathe with life . '' That planned March release was then scrubbed , when Cannes expressed interest in debuting the director 's version of the movie in May . Even before it screened , though , Grace 's children blasted the picture as `` needlessly glamorized and historically inaccurate '' and boycotting the Cannes red carpet . THR : The Weinstein Co. nearing deal to keep 'Grace of Monaco ' Weinstein did n't attend the movie 's premiere either -- explaining that he had been visiting Syrian refugee camps in Jordan as part of a long-scheduled U.N.-sponsored trip . But TWC did strike a new distribution deal for the film in Cannes , agreeing to show Dahan 's cut in the U.S. , but acquiring rights for just $ 3 million upfront , a $ 2 million discount from its earlier contract . But TWC then did not slot `` Grace of Monaco '' into its fall , 2015 release schedule . Tim Roth costars as Kelly 's husband Prince Rainier III , Frank Langella as Kelly 's priest and confidante , Parker Posey as Grace 's aid , and Paz Vega ( `` Spanglish , '' `` Sex and Lucia '' ) as opera singer Maria Callas . See the original story at The Hollywood Reporter . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter . All rights reserved .
The film will premiere on last year 's . It opened Memorial Day Cannes Film Festival . A planned March theater release was scrubbed .