Venice Opening has Gravity/Domestic Distributors Finale:Strand, A24, LD/Count on Cousins/Blue Not Oscar Bound?

Good Wednesday Everyone...

VENICE OPENING HAS GRAVITY

Word is out that the opening film for the Venice Film Fest is Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity".  This is not a big surprise.  "Gravity" has been a project that many had thought would serve in that sort of capacity...or get one  of the New York fest's big three slots.

I haven't thought it a likely Telluride candidate all along, though it's a film that I a curious about.  I really dug Cuaron"s "Children of Men".

A quick note; it's not absolutely precluded from playing Telluride.  The linked post from The Playlist below actually suggests that T-ride is a possibility and remember too that "Black Swan" opened Venice in 2010 and still managed to be a part of the Telluride lineup that year.  Finally, the film is at Warner Brothers who had "Argo" at Telluride last year and that seemed to work out well for them...so never say never.

Post form The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alfonso-cuarons-gravity-with-sandra-bullock-george-clooney-to-open-70th-venice-film-festival-20130703

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gravity-open-venice-film-festival-579747



DOMESTIC DISTRIBUTORS FINALE

After a week and a half of looking at U.S. film distributors, today I'll conclude the series by looking at three small outfits that occasionally have a film in play at the Telluride Film Festival and that might again this year.

STRAND RELEASING

Here's what Strand has had at Telluride in the recent past:

2010: Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2011: Bonsai
2012: Paradise: Love

So, Strand has been very consistent recently.  Another common thread is that all three of the above films played in some capacity at Cannes.  So the question becomes, does Strand have a project that fits this profile?  The answer is yes...

"Stranger by the Lake" played in the Un Certain Regard section and was fairly well received.  It also picked up the directing award for the UCR section for director/writer Alain Guiraudie.

All in all, this is strong circumstantial evidence that we'll probably have a chance to see the film at TFF #40.

Chances: 65%

A24

A24 has also been a smallish player at Telluride...and by smallish, I mean, their only past appearance was last year with Sally Potter's "Ginger and Rosa".  That probably had as much to do with it being Potter's film as anything as she has been at Telluride with previous work (Yes-'04).  A24 has also only been around for a couple of years.

However, just this week A24 announced that they had closed a deal to distribute "The Rover" which makes it something to watch for come Labor Day weekend.  "The Rover" is directed and co-written by David Michod (written with actor Joel Edgerton).

Here's a link from Thompson on Hollywood about the A24 acquisition:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/a24-acquires-the-rover-david-michod-robert-pattinson-guy-pearce

And from Hit Fix: http://www.hitfix.com/news/robert-pattinson-thriller-the-rover-acquire-by-bling-ring-distributor


 Chances for "The Rover" 30%

LD ENTERTAINMENT

LD Entertainment is also a relative newcomer to the distribution game having just started in 2009.  In that short time, however, the company has been represented at Telluride twice.

2010: Biutiful
2011: Albert Nobbs

This year the firm has Charlie Stratton's "Therese" with Elizabeth Olsen, Jessica Lange and not for nothing, Oscar Issac ...who also plays the title role in the Coen Brothers "Inside Llewyn Davis" as a possible feature for Telluride consumption.  "Therese" is based on the novel by Emile Zola and is not to be confused with the Audrey Tautou film of essentially the same name.

"Therese" has a 30% chance to play at Telluride.


COUNT ON COUSINS

Mark Cousins has become a common presence at the Telluride Film Festival (2009: "The First Movie", 2011; "The Story of Film: An Odyssey", 2012: "What is This Film Called Love?")  and although I didn't have his latest work listed last Friday on the first "Ten Bets" list for TFF #40...he'll almost certainly be on that list this week.  His latest compilation played at Cannes and continues his exploration of film.  It's entitled "A Story of Children and Film".

The Guardian recently profiled Cousins and the film retrospective.  Here that is:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/20/mark-cousins-children-film-cannes

TCM will be playing Cousins entire 15 part "Odyssey" beginning on Sept. 2...the day this year's festival concludes...Coincidence?  I doubt it.

Thompson on Hollywood had that story:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/story-of-film-mark-cousins-tcm-tv-debut

I'm saying that Cousins will be back and "A Story of Children and Film" will play.


BLUE NOT OSCAR BOUND?

Monday The Playlist reported that Cannes Palme d'Or winner and possible Telluride selection "Blue is the Warmest Color" likely will NOT be a candidate for France's choice for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.  That seems odd as a Palme winner seems like a no-brainer but it has to do with release dates.  Here's the link to The Playlist story:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-palme-dor-winner-blue-is-the-warmest-color-not-likely-to-enter-the-oscar-race-says-french-distributor-20130701

It also raises the question as to whether that affects the chances of the film playing at Telluride.  my guess is that it won't...leaving "Blue" as a 60% chance as I listed it last week in the Sundance Selects analysis.  Still, I'll keep an eye out to see if there are any release changes that might have a ripple effect.


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More tomorrow...