ACADEMY TRIP TO T-RIDE CANCELED-TFF RESPONDS
Pete Hammond writing at Deadline.com reported Saturday evening that the usual AMPAS member trip to Telluride has been canceled. From Hammond's post:
"Deadline has learned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will not be traveling to Colorado for its annual member trip to the Telluride Film Festival this upcoming Labor Day weekend, and as such will not be holding its usual cocktail reception which has been a highlight of the fest in recent years and was expected to once again draw a packed room of Oscar voters..."
Despite the Academy's decision, Hammond says that the fest is still "all systems go" writing:
"...it is still all systems go for the festival, in terms of studio and distributor participation. In fact, I have been contacted by at least one major player with several films this year asking if I am comfortable attending their planned event “as long as all precautions are taken”. I have heard of no one so far canceling or changing their plans regarding participation at Telluride."
Further, Hammond says that the scuttlebutt is:
"there is lots of informed speculation and it appears festival honchos are putting together a very strong and promising lineup of films and tributes including in-person star and filmmaker participation."
Meanwhile, on Sunday, The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg reported that TFF organizer's have stepped in and will be hosting an event to replace that annual Academy soiree. TFF heads have labelled the party "The Filmmakers Reception". Feinberg writes:
“AMPAS will be sorely missed this year,” the fest tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The organization has been, and will continue to be, strong supporters and friends of the Festival, and we can’t wait to welcome them back in 2022. We will continue in their absence with the annual cocktail party [hosted in recent years by the Academy], this year called the Filmmaker Reception, with the same exclusive guest list full of Oscar voters, filmmakers, talent, and Hollywood executives. We will be moving to a bigger venue: a beautiful private home with an abundance of outdoor space and all the same Festival-mandated Covid safety protocols.”
Feinberg's reporting also emphasized, as Hammond's reporting did, that all films that had been set to play Telluride still are set to play. From Feinberg:
"The Hollywood Reporter can also confirm that no distributors have backed out of their plans to attend or screen their films at the fest, and several have already begun reaching out to journalists to ask them to hold time-slots for COVID-safe receptions and media opportunities."
LATE BREAKING: CUMBERBATCH CONFIRMS POWER OF DOG AND LOUIS WAIN FOR TELLURIDE
Screen Daily reports this morning that actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who appears in both Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and Will Sharpe's The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, has confirmed in a BBC Radio interview that both films will play at Telluride.
Here's the link to the Screen Daily story.
RUIMY'S 12 MOST ANITICPATED FILM FEST FILMS (6 AT TELLURIDE?)
Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel was up on Saturday with a list of 12 fall film fest films that he called the most anticipated. Among the 12 titles listed, half are expected (by Ruimy) to play at TFF #48. Here's where those half dozen land on his list:
1) The Power of the Dog
5) C'mon C'mon
7) Spencer
8) The Hand of God
9) The Card Counter
10) The Lost Daughter
How do the other three fests fare on Ruimy's list?
Venice has eight films.
Toronto has six films.
New York has three films.
KNOWN UNKNOWNS PART 3
I've been keeping track of a list of films I have called the "Known Unknowns". I last posted it two weeks ago and it looked like this:
Being the Ricardos/Sorkin (Amazon-No date)
Cyrano/Wright (MGM/United Artists-12/25)
Don't Look Up/McKay (Netflix-No date)
Eternals/Zhao (Disney-11/5)
A Journal for Jordan/Washington (Sony-12/22)
King Richard/Green (Warners-11/9)
The Last Duel/Scott (Disney/20th Century-10/15)
Soggy Bottom (Untitled PTA Project)/Anderson (MGM-11-26)
tick, tick...BOOM/Miranda (Netflix-Undated)
West Side Story/Spielberg (Disney/20th Century-12-10)
Over the last two weeks, there has been some movement on the list. Both The Last Duel and tick, tick, BOOM have given clues that neither of those films will be at Telluride.
However, there has been some increasing buzz that Joe Wright's Cyrano has a reasonable chance to make the TFF #48 lineup.
With that information in mind we are left with seven films still on the list:
Being the Ricardos/Sorkin (Amazon-No date)
Don't Look Up/McKay (Netflix-No date)
Eternals/Zhao (Disney-11/5)
A Journal for Jordan/Washington (Sony-12/22)
King Richard/Green (Warners-11/9)
Soggy Bottom (Untitled PTA Project)/Anderson (MGM-11-26)
West Side Story/Spielberg (Disney/20th Century-12-10)
My assessment here is that the only one of these that might be a Telluride choice is King Richard. The rest are unlikely to play at any festival anywhere.
JULIA LOOK LIKE A LOCK
The Toronto International Film Festival announced Friday that Julia, the documentary about the life of Julia Child, will play TIFF as an International Premiere. That designation tells us that Julia's presence at Telluride is very, very likely as the film is listed as being a U.S. film by TIFF which means that the International designation tells us that it will have appeared previously in its country of origin. The process of elimination tells us Telluride.
NEW POSTER FOR THE CARD COUNTER
Here it is. Released this week is another poster for Paul Schrader's The Card Counter which I am really confident about being a TFF #48 choice. I'm expecting it to move from an early Venice slot across the Atlantic to land in T-ride. Here's the poster:
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
No comments:
Post a Comment