Orlando Bloom film Zulu to close Cannes Film Festival 2013

Orlando Bloom and Forest Whitaker in a still from the film Zulu by Jerome Salle, which is to close the Festival de Cannes on May 26 (PA)

Orlando Bloom's new movie about a pair of South African police officers will close this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The Lord of the Rings star teams up with Forest Whitaker in the thriller, called Zulu, which is set in Cape Town.

This year's festival, which attracts some of Hollywood's biggest names and most powerful people to the south of France every year, opens on Wednesday May 15 with Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby.

Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg will chair the jury that hands out the top prize at this year's festival - more than three decades after making his debut there with ET.

Spielberg, whose hits include Jaws and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, said the annual film industry gathering was "the most prestigious of its kind".

He said: "The memory of my first Cannes Film Festival, nearly 31 years ago with the debut of ET, is still one of the most vibrant memories of my career.

"For over six decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honour and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world."

This year's festival runs from May 15 to 26.