The Immigrant is a 2013 American period drama film directed by James Gray from a screenplay he co-wrote with Richard Menello, starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. It follows a young Polish immigrant who arrives in New York City in 1921 looking for a better life after escaping post–World War I Poland. Shot in New York City between January and March 2012, the film struggled to have a theatrical release following Gray's refusal to change the film's ending to meet Harvey Weinstein's demands, who bought U.S. and UK distribution rights to the film three months after shooting had wrapped, and then threatened to release it direct-to-TV if Gray did not accept Weinstein's cut. The film–with Gray's original cut–had its world premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States by The Weinstein Company on May 16, 2014.