Looking at Distributors: Searchlight / From Out of Left Field / More as The Bikeriders Rolls out

CHECKING THE DISTRBUTORS: SEARCHLIGHT

Searchlight (and before it, Fox Searchlight) has been a stalwart in the TFF Universe for many years.  My running list of films from them goes back to 2004 and includes five Oscar Best Picture winners and a slew of nominations:

2023: Poor Things, All of Us Strangers, The Last Repair Shop

2022: Empire of Light 

2021: The French Dispatch 

2020: Nomadland (Best Picture Oscar) 

2019: A Hidden Life 
2018: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Old Man and the Gun 
2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes 
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala 
2014: Birdman (Best Picture Oscar), Wild 
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture Oscar) 
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants 
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan 
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture Oscar) 
2007: Juno, The Savages
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake 
2005: Bee Season 
2004: Kinsey 

But as you can also see there have been years that Searchlight was not a presence at TFF: 2009, 2012 and 2016.  2024 might be one of those off years.

I've scoured what Searchlight has set for release and what films are in post-production and the films that are or could be ready and feel like something Telluride might be interested in are meager.  As a matter of fact, at the moment I can only find Marielle Heller's Nightbitch as Searchlight's only real player.

The film's pedigree sounds like a real TFF possibility: Heller was in T-ride in with Can You Ever Forgive Me? in 2018.  The film's star, Amy Adams was a tribute recipient in 2016 and Searchlight set the film's release for Dec. 6th.  But...

The film has been described as perhaps being too odd and difficult to promote.  Here's part of the plot summary listed at IMDb Pro:

"A woman, thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a dog."

See what I mean.  On the other hand, T-ride programmed Poor Things last year to great success.  So...maybe?

So I'm giving Nightbitch a 30% shot at TFF #51 and I suppose there is the weakest of possibilities that we might see Nate Parker's (The Birth of a Nation) Solitary.  I give it a 10% chance.

FROM OUT OF LEFT FIELD

So I was perusing Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel for this and that and came across this story that Jordan posted on Saturday headlined:

Gia Coppola's ‘The Last Showgirl' Aims for Fall Fests; Oscar Nominee, Pamela Anderson?

Intrigued, I opened the story up and read some very interesting speculation including these choice comments:

"Here’s another potential title for Venice/Telluride."

and

"Coppola’s last film, “Mainstream,” was part of the pandemic-afflicted 2020 edition of Venice, but I’m hearing this one’s a worthier film and, more importantly, is a major showcase for Anderson. It’s also very likely headed to Telluride — that fest’s director, Julie Huntsinger, hasn’t locked her lineup just yet, but “The Last Showgirl” is a major possibility."

Could it be true? Ruimy seems to think so.

Additionally Coppola brought Palo Alto to T-ride in 2013 and would have had Mainstream there in 2020 had the fest not been bagged due to Covid.

We'll have to keep an eye on this.

Here's WOR's full story.

MORE AS THE BIKERIDERS ROLLS OUT

Ahead of its release this week, here's more for Jeff Nichol's The Bikeriders, a TFF #50 alum:

Austin Butler form The Hollywood Reporter's X account.

Austin Butler and Norman Reedus from Car and Driver.

Jodi Comer from The Bikeriders film X account.

And a 60 second look at the film from PopCrave.

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Steve McQueen's Blitz-Off the Table? / Screen Daily and the Venice Lineup / Bikeriders Riding Into Theaters Next Week

STEVE MC QUEEN'S BLITZ-OFF THE TABLE?

I wrote in the MTFB May 30th post:

"I'd reallllly...love for Blitz to get to TFF and McQueen has a solid past with the fest, but...given the story is about the blitz of London by the Nazis in WWII, I can see McQueen wanting to hold the World Premiere as a part of the London Film Fest in October."

Now, we're hearing that Blitz may not be in play for TFF or Venice adding some credence to the possibility of my theory.

Jordan Ruimy writing for his website Word of Reel has been following this Blitz situation this past week posting on June 10th an article headlined: Where Is Steve McQueen's Blitz?

Then yesterday Ruimy had more to say in an article titled: Blitz Not Submitted to Venice or Telluride.  In that piece Ruimy writes:

"...until I hear anything different, it looks like “Blitz” might not premiere on the Lido. Same with Telluride, which is said to still be in hot pursuit of the film."

A couple of takeaways here.  First, if Ruimy is correct then Blitz is seemingly off the TFF table.  BUT...that last sentence suggests that T-ride is still on the hunt to land the film.

Here's where I am.  Unless we find out more between now and next Thursday when my first "Ten Bets" for Telluride will be posted, Blitz will not be on that list.  But, I'm keeping the door open the slimmest of cracks on the basis that Ruimy's correct and the fest is still trying to get it.

SCREEN DAILY'S VENICE SPECULATION

Screen Daily posted their speculative piece about the films that could be at The Venice Film Festival on Monday.

I've been through the article trying to pick out films that might make their initial bow in Italy and then do the quick turnaround to come to Colorado.  From their list, here are the films that I think have the best shot at that (in the order they appear on the article):

Luca Guadagnino's Queer

Pablo Larrain's Maria

Edward Berger's Conclave

Julian Schnabel's In the Hand of Dante

Walter Salles' I'm Still Here

Mike Leigh's Hard Truths

Joshua Oppenheimer's The End

Malcolm Washington's The Piano Lesson

As a side note, Screen Daily included Steve McQueen's Blitz as a Venice possibility but see the above story.

BIKERIDERS RIDING INTO THEATERS NEXT WEEK

I've made no secret of the fact that I really enjoyed Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders last year at TFF #50 but, admittedly, that feeling wasn't universal.  In my polls post-fest, my group of industry pros ended with it ranked 9th of the 12 films that had enough eyeballs on it. The People's Telluride poll had it at 10th of 16 and the Composite poll landed it at #8 out the 10 films that met the criteria for making that field.  

It seems, however that critics have embraced it a bit better.  Metacritic has it it with a respectable 73 and its Rotten Tomatoes score is a better than respectable 84.

At any rate, the film opens next week in theaters and consequently we're seeing a lot of P.R. about it ahead of that.  Here's a taste:

Director Jeff Nichols with The Hollywood Reporter.

Austin Butler via TheBikeriders X account.

Austin Butler and Jodie Comer from IGN.

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Megalopolis Trailer / Third Trailer for The Bikeriders / Parthenope Has a Home

MEGALOPOLIS TRAILER

Just this weekend American Zoetrope released an initial trailer for Francis ford Coppola's anticipated Megalopolis.  The film is set to debut at Cannes.  I have wondering (hoping?) if it might be a TFF #51 selection.  

Here's the trailer from YouTube and JoBlo:

THIRD TRAILER FOR THE BIKERIDERS

This past week we got a new poster for Jeff Nichol's The Bikeriders which world premiered at Telluride in September.  A day or so later Focus Features dropped a third teaser/trailer for the film .  Here that is from YouTube and JoBlo Upcoming Movies:

The Bikeriders opens June 21st.

PARTHENOPE HAS A HOME

Many of the early Oscar predictions and looks at "Most Anticipated" lists that I have been looking at to get a sense of what films might be in line for a T-ride berth have included Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope.  The case for a possible screening at TFF #51 may have been strengthened this week as the film was picked by A24 for U.S. distribution ahead of its premiere screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in a couple of weeks.

A24 has become a consistent presence at Telluride in recent years including screening of The Zone of Interest (2023). Aftersun (2022) and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) among many others.

The acquisition of Parthenope by A24 doesn't guarantee anything, but it also doesn't hurt.

Here are the details from Deadline.com.

Parthenope is described as follows (from the Deadline article):

"The movie follows Parthenope, who born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters." 

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Oscar Update: Screenplays / The Bikeriders Pics / Interviews and Profiles: Payne

OSACR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS 

Here's MTFB's first Oscar Update for the screenplay categories since the original set of predictions On Sept. 25th.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Barbie (1)

2) The Holdovers (2)

3) Past Lives (3)

4) Anatomy of a Fall (5)

5) Maestro (4)

Alternates: Saltburn, Air, May December.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Poor Things (3)

4) American Fiction (4)

5) All of Us Strangers (-)

Alternates: The Zone of Interest, The Taste of Things, Origin.

Beginning this week I'll start providing Oscar Updates with every post focused on the Big Eight categories.

THE BIKERIDERS PICS

I advance of its Nov. 9th issue that will feature Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders, Total Film has posted some photos of the film.  The pics feature Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer.  Check them out here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES:

Alexander Payne on The Holdovers from Uproxx.

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Oscar Update: Lead Acting / Trailers: Poor Things, Nyad, Saltburn, Rustin / Interviews: Butler

OSCAR UPDATE: LEAD ACTING

Here's MTFB's first Oscar Update for the Lead Acting category since the original set of predictions On Sept. 25th..  Today I'm updating the Lead Acting categories.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Emma Stone/Poor Things (2)

2) Lily Gladstone/Killers of the Flower Moon (1)

3) Carrie Mulligan/Maestro (3)

4) Margot Robbie/Barbie (-)

5) Annette Bening/Nyad (4)

Alternates: Sandra Huller/Anatomy of a Fall, Natalie Portman/May December and Fantasia Barrino/The Color Purple

BEST ACTOR

1) Cillian Murphy/Oppenheimer (1)

2) Bradley Cooper/Maestro (4)

3) Colman Domingo/Rustin (2)

4) Paul Giamatti/The Holdovers (5)

5) Leonardo DiCaprio/Killers of the Flower Moon (3)

Alternates: Jeffrey Wright/American Fiction, Andrew Scott/All of Us Strangers and Barry Keoghan/Saltburn.

Comment: Among the Best Actress category is still seems a death match between any of the top six women.  In the Best Actor category-a nice uptick for Cooper and Giamatti.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 23rd, 2024

TRAILERS: POOR THINGS, NYAD, SALTBURN, RUSTIN

Within a few hours of last Thursday's post distributors/producers for four TFF #50 films released teaser/trailers for their films.  I honestly thought about updating Thursday's post with them but that post was already lengthy.  So, ultimately I decided to post the trailers in today's regularly scheduled MTFB offering.  Here they are from YouTube:

POOR THINGS:

NYAD:

 

SALTBURN:

RUSTIN:

INTERVIEWS: BUTLER

Austin Butler on The Bikeriders from Entertainment Weekly (and Interview Magazine).

Austin Butler from Indiewire.

Austin Butler from The Hollywood Reporter.

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Bikeriders Riding into The 'Ride / And Maybe... / The Buzzing / Late Breaking from London

BIKERIDERS RIDING INTO THE 'RIDE

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reported on Friday that he has confirmed the buzz we'd been hearing the last couple of weeks that Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders will debut at Telluride.  The film stars Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Boyd Holbrook, Michael Shannon and Jodie Comer.

IMDb's synopsis goes like this:

"It follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members."

Nichols previous films include Loving, Midnight Special, Take Shelter and Mud.

For me, its another really great entry into the TFF #50 lineup...which, if what we think is going to Telluride shows at The SHOW, is rocking.

AND MAYBE...

In recent posts I've been mentioning the possibility of Angelina Jolie bringing her latest film-Without Blood-to TFF #50.  I'm still not quite all the way to the point where I'm predicting if for the lineup yet but I am getting closer.  There's a good deal of buzz that the Jolie follow-up to her 2017 First They Killed My Father which also played Telluride.  That previous appearance is one of the reasons that I think might make Without Blood a real possibility for TFF #50.  

THE BUZZING

We're getting to the time of the year where MTFB starts to pop up in other places.  This past week MTFB was referenced by Sasha Stone at Awards Daily in her Aug. 4th post about Oscar and the potential effects of the dual writers' and actors' strike.

Speaking of buzz, on the Awards Radar podcast this week Joey Magidson and his guests Mark Johnson and Ryan McQuade talked a good deal about Telluride and probably the most exciting speculation is about Killers of the Flower Moon and a possible tribute to Martin Scorsese.  They feel that's more not less likely.  I had been hearing a little of that speculation within the last week to ten days.  If you listen to the podcast that discussion occurs at 1:13:58.

If you've read this space before, you know that Flowers is my big hope for the year whether it plays T-ride or not and I have been very clear that I have not believed that it would.  Many of you know that I did a day of background on the film which makes me even more keen to actually see it as soon as possible.

I hate to get all worked up but...there is a little smoke...

On the other hand, another film that's high on my list to see is David Fincher's The Killer starring Michael Fassbender as a professional assassin who comes to a question what his choices have been.  

Like Flower Moon, I have thought The Killer to be an unlikely film for TFF #50 inclusion and now World of Reel suggests that outcome is probable.  WOR chief Jordan Ruimy writing this weekend:

"...not much else is known about Fincher’s upcoming 118-minute film. That’ll change when it premieres in September at the Venice Film Festival. So far, no other festivals have announced it, and I’m hearing it’s not going to Telluride or Toronto. Maybe NYFF is an option."

LATE BREAKING FROM LONDON

First image of Emerald Fennell's Saltburn via Screen Daily

Overnight the BFI London Film Festival announced that its opening night film will be Emerald Fennell's Saltburn.  The announcement added further evidence that the film will be bowing initially at Telluride.  Saltburn is listed by LFF as its International Premiere which adds to the comments from Venice Film Fest head Alberto Barbera from last week that Saltburn will play Telluride.  Additionally we can deduce from its International Premiere status that it will skip Toronto.

Here's a report of the announcement with further details from Screen Daily.

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