AD ASTRA FLIES BACK INTO CONSIDERATION
I've had James Gray's Ad Astra on the radar for quite some time. The film combines high concept and prestige plus a notable cast (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga) to have created quite a stir. Also creating a stir has been its shifting release dates. At one point it was set for a Jan. 2019 release and its latest official release date has been May 24th. That date will also reportedly go by the wayside according to a number of sources over the past few days and I mention that here because the scuttlebutt now is that Disney/Fox has settled on a fall release for the film which may well include the fall festivals.
"Fall Festivals" usually refers to Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course, Telluride. Gregory Ellwood writing at The Playlist reported that "it's likely that Fox will aim for a Venice debut" which would make a good deal of sense...and perhaps the film would follow what has become a not uncommon move of transferring directly from Venice to Telluride. The Shape of Water, Gravity, Birdman and La La Land have all been recent travelers of that path.
I, for one, am pleased that this film is back in the conversation and will be looking over the summer for other clues about its ultimate fate regarding where it play and if that could include TFF #46.
FRANKIE: SPC HAS IT AND SOME IMAGES
Ahead of its premiere at Cannes in the next week or two came news late last week that Ira Sachs' Frankie starring former TFF Tribute recipient Isabelle Huppert has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. SPC's claim moves Frankie right into consideration for possible TFF #46 inclusion. SPC has historically had a very solid relationship with TFF. As a matter of fact, it has been the strongest distributor relationship with TFF over the near decade and a half I have been attending.
Last year was a bit of an aberration as SPC only had Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow in the TFF lineup. In the 2017, more characteristically, SPC had five films on the TFF #45 program: Fantastic Woman, Loveless, The Rider, Foxtrot and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Over my time at TFF, SPC has averaged 4.4 films per year.
Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory
I honestly expect SPC to be back at TFF with more than one film in 2019. Perhaps Pedro Almodovar returns with a TFF film for the first time since 2006's Volver with his Cannes entry Pain and Glory? Could we see the documentary about John Prine (John Prine; Hello In There)? Or the Clive Owen, Tim Roth starrer The Song of Names?
And who knows what SPC might acquire in the next couple of months as a result of Cannes?
Both The Film Stage and Deadline have stories about the SPC acquisition of Frankie as well as numerous images released prior to its Cannes' bow. You can find The Film Stage story here and the Deadline story here.
Done for Monday. More on Thursday.
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