Capitalism Unleashed: Gordon Gekko Returns in <em>Wall Street 2</em>

Does capitalism work anymore? Director Oliver Stone was well placed to render his verdict as Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday.

"I'm confused whether capitalism in its present form can work," said the director at a news conference after the first screening on Friday. "It seems not. It seems excessive and unregulated... I don't know where it's going to go."

Stone said that Douglas and producer Ed Pressman first approached him to reprise Wall Street in 2006, but he wasn't interested.

But after the global financial crisis in 2008, he felt there was a need to address anew the themes that resonated so deeply with his 1987 blockbuster hit and the protagonist who became a cultural symbol of the go-go era, Gordon "Greed is Good" Gekko.

"I didn't want to celebrate a culture of wealth," said Stone. "But after the crash, all bets were off. It was a triple bypass. This is serious. It's time to come back. It had to be done."

Read the rest of the interview at WaxWord Cannes.

And read full Wrap Cannes coverage at WaxWord Cannes and Report From Cannes.