Who's Got What? Distributors-Sony Pictures Classics / Whispers: Elsinore??? / The Debut of The Debut?

 WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS-SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Here's the third installment for 2026 for taking a look at distribution companies which have had a strong relationship with the Telluride Film Festival.  Today we gaze at Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) which likely has the longest connection to the fest overall.  Though SPC comes in as the third most represented distributor over the last five years with 13 films appearing, the SPC/TFF connection goes back many more fests.  SPC is always a strong bet to have a film or films at TFF.

Here's the five year track record:

2021: The Duke, Julia

2022: Living, One Fine Morning, The Return of Tanya Tucker, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams.

2023: Daddio, The Teachers' Lounge, They Shot the Piano Player.

2024: Don't Let's Go to the Dog's Tonight, The Outrun.

2025: Blue Moon, A Private Life

It's solid five year run averaging between two and three films per year,

Now, here's what's in the SPC treasure chest for a possible TFF #53 spot and my current guess about each film's probability of playing:

(If it's ready) The Statement/McCarthy  50%

Bunker 50%

Bitter Christmas/Almodovar 50%

Rehearsals for a Revolution/Ahangarani 30%

Iron Boy/Clichy 25%

[Revised 7-13-26]

WHISPERS: ELSINORE???

Andrew Scott at TFF #52 (Getty Images)

Maybe keep an eye out for Elsinore starring Andrew Scott.  The film is being shopped for U.S. distribution with a deal expected "soon".

The logline: A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London.

Scott is starring as Charleson who is probably best known to Americans for playing Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire.

Anyway, World of Reel and The Playlist reported in the last few days that it could be a surprise entry at the end of this year into the Oscar race.  

An intriguing note from The Playlist story:  Ellwood claims the film has been accepted by multiple film fests writing:

"This (Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."

Of course we have no way of knowing which and how many fests are being referenced but it certainly doesn't disqualify the possibility of T-ride.

Scott, who attended TFF last year with Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, could return.  

Keep an ear to the ground regarding who picks up distribution for the film.

THE DEBUT OF THE DEBUT?

I think everyone who reads this space with any frequency has figured out that I'm really excited about Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut.  

Now comes news that the film has been confirmed by Eisenberg to be premiering at a "fall film festival".  That news comes via an interview with Screen Daily as Eisenberg is at the Karlovy Film Fest to receive its President's Award.

From Screen Daily/Screen International's X account:

Sooo...not a lock for Telluride, but not ruling it out either.

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Cannes Continues / Some Buzz from Eisenberg / Mike Leigh Has a Title

 CANNES CONTINUES

The 79th Cannes Film Fest has passed its halfway mark and is barreling toward its conclusion this weekend. Taking a look at the metrics from Screen Daily, Ioncinema and Cannes-ratings.org, here are the films that seem to be at the forefront critically (*** indicates that the film is on my TFF watch list):

From Screen Daily (films in Palme competition with a better than 2.5 rating on a four point scale):

1) Fatherland 3.3***

2) All of a Sudden 3.1***

3) Paper Tiger 2.8***

3) Hope 2.8***

5) Naji Notes 2.5

The complete Screen Daily chart is linked here.

https://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=7d45952f-7ff1-4ba7-b98c-78b6cf24da1e

From Ioncinema (films in Palme competition with a better than 3.0 rating on a five point scale):

1) Fatherland 3.7***

2) Fjord 3.5***

3) All of a Sudden 3.3***

4) Paper Tiger 3.2***

4) The Beloved 3.2

6) Hope 3.1***

The complete Ioncinema grid is linked here.

https://www.ioncinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-cannes-grid-fjord.jpg

From Cannes-ratings.org (films in Palme competition with a better than 7.0 rating on a 10 point scale and a minimum of 8 reviews):

1) Fjord 7.81***

2) Bitter Christmas 7.53***

3) All of a Sudden 7.24***

3) The Beloved 7.24

Of special note is the hugely favorable critical reception to Club Kid from the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.  It has a stellar 8.43 rating to lead all films in any section of the fest.  News broke on Tuesday that the film had been picked up for U.S. distribution by A24 after a bidding war that included: Netflix, Searchlight, Focus Features and MUBI according to this story from Variety.

The critical reception, the players vying for the film and the ultimate winning bid is enough to make me pay attention to it as a possible TFF selection.   Stay tuned.

Club Kid is a first feature for director/writer Jordan Firstman. .  The IMDb description is:

"A washed-up New York party promoter is forced to turn his life around when an unexpected visitor arrives."

The complete set of ratings from Cannes-ratins.org is linked here.

https://cannes-ratings.org/

According to Kalshi  (as of yesterday), Minotaur has the best odds to win the Palme followed by All of a Sudden and Fatherland.

SOME BUZZ FOR EISENBERG

Spooking around the interwebs yesterday I came across the news that what has been referred to as "The Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy now has an actual title: No One Cares.  It also seems that the film has been screened at Cannes and it seems that the screening went well.  So says World of Reel. 

WOR describes the film as follows:

"Starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, with Eisenberg also appearing briefly, “No One Cares” is set in “the high-stakes world of community theater,” and follows a shy woman (Moore) who is unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical."

Giamatti plays the director of the community theater production.  I think it sounds great and I have had it on my TFF #53 watch list for some time mostly because Eisenberg screened A Real Pain at TFF in 2024.  That seemed to work out fairly well.  The film is being distributed by A24 which doesn't hurt.  Additionally WOR writes:

"A24 is positioning the film for a fall premiere, potentially at the Telluride Film Festival and then at the Toronto International Film Festival. An Oscar campaign will likely be mounted for all key players involved."

MIKE LEIGH HAS A TITLE

Another "Untitled Project" has an actual title and that's the next film from director Mike Leigh.  The name: Tender Loving Care.  Past that we know almost nothing about the project.  You can likely glean a bit of info from what IMDb still lists as "Untitled 2025 Mike Leigh Project"  which we assume is the same thing as the newly christened Tender Loving Care.

That IMDb info is linked here.

https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt35638092/details

The IMDb entry reveals that Bleeker Street is the U.S. distributor.

Considering Leigh's frequent stops at TFF over the years (Secrets and Lies, Happy-Go-Lucky, Another Year and others) you have to believe there's a decent chance that if it's ready, Tender Loving Care has a decent shot to play TFF #53.

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MTFB Oscar Update: First Winners Predictions: Picture, Directing and Acting / International Cinephile Society and TFF / Interviews and Profiles: Eisenberg and Ross

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: FIRST WINNERS PREDICTIONS: PICTURE, DIRECTING AND ACTING

We're four weeks and a couple of days away from Oscar Night.  Today MTFB is moving into the business of predicting who will actually win The Academy Award on March 2nd.  We start with six "above-the-line" categories: Picture, Direction, and all four Acting categories.  As always, TFF films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Emilia Perez

2) The Brutalist

3) Conclave

4) Anora

5) A Complete Unknown

6) Wicked

7) The Substance

8) Nickel Boys

9) Dune: Part Two

10) I'm Still Here

 BEST DIRECTION

1) Brady Corbet/The Brutalist

2) Jacques Audiard/Emilia Perez

3) Sean Baker/Anora

4) James Mangold/A CompleteUnknown

5) Coralie Fargeat/The Substance

BEST ACTRESS

1) Demi Moore/The Substance

2) Mikey Madison/Anora

3) Fernanda Torres/I'm Still Here

4) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez

5) Cynthia Erivo/Wicked

BEST ACTOR

1) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown

2) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist

3) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave

4) Colman Domingo/Sing Sing

5) Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez

2) Ariana Grande/Wicked

3) Isabella Rossellini/Conclave

4) Monca Barbaro/A Complete Unknown

5) Felicity Jones/The Brutalist

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain 

2) Edward Norton/A Complete Unknown

3) Guy Pearce/The Brutalist

4) Yura Borisov/Anora

5) Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice

 

So, if I'm 100% accurate, TFF films win Oscars for Best Picture, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor.

On Monday I'll have first predictions for the Screenplays as well as International, Animated and Documentary Features.

INTERNATIONAL CINEPHILE SOCIETY AND TFF

The International Cinephile Society (ICS) announced its nominees for film excellence for 2024 on Sunday.  TFF films earned 33 nominations with Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light leading the pack with nine.  Eight TFF #51 films were named as well as one TFF #50 film.  Here's the lowdown: 

All We Imagine as Light (9): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Kusruti), Supporting Actress (Kadam), Supporting Actress (Prabha), Ensemble, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing.

Nickel Boys (7): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actress (Ellis-Taylor), Supporting Actor (Wilson), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Score.

Anora (5): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Borisov), Breakthrough Performer (Madison), Ensemble and Original Screenplay.

Misericordia (4): Best Picture, Direction, Ensemble and Original Screenplay.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2): Best Picture and Original Screenplay.

Conclave (2): Best Ensemble and Adapted Screenplay.

No Other Land (2): Best Documentary and Debut Film.

Memoir of a Snail (1): Best Animated Film.

Janet Planet (From TFF #50-1): Best Debut Film.

The full set of nominees is linked here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter.

RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys from Paste Magazine.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Lead Acting and More / THR's Most Anticipated for 2025 / Interviews and Profiles

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: LEAD ACTING AND MORE

I'm updating the Lead Acting categories today as well as Cinematography, Editing and Production Design.  These categories were last updated on Dec. 19th.  An actor's/film's previous position is indicated in (parentheses).  TFF #51 films are in Bold. 

BEST ACTRESS

1) Mikey Madison/Anora (1)

2) Angelina Jolie/Maria (4)

3) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez (3)

4) Cynthia Erivo/Wicked (2)

5) Demi Moore/The Substance (5)

Others: Marianne Jean-Baptiste/Hard Truths, Nicole Kidman/Babygirl and Fernanda Torres/I'm Still Here.

BEST ACTOR

1) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist (2)

2) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave (1)

3) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown (3)

4) Colman Domingo/Sing Sing (4)

5) Daniel Craig/Queer (5)

Others: Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice, Jesse Eisenberg/A Real Pain and Sebastian Stan/A Different Man.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Brutalist (2)

2) Maria (3)

3) Dune Part Two (1)

4) Nickel Boys (4)

5) Nosferatu (5)

Others: Conclave, Wicked Part 1 and The Girl with a Needle.

BEST EDITING

1) Conclave (1)

2) Emilia Perez (4)

3) The Brutalist (2)

4) Dune Part Two (3)

5) Anora (5)

Others: September 5, Gladiator II and Wicked Part 1.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Wicked Part 1 (1)

2) Dune Part Two (2)

3) The Brutalist (3)

4) Gladiator II (4)

5) Nosferatu (5)

Others: Conclave, Blitz and Emilia Perez.

Comment: The Golden Globes are on Sunday.  It'll be interesting to see how they shake out.  Maybe they give us some sense about the how the Oscar wind is blowing.  Oscar nomination voting begins next week on Wednesday, Jan. 8th.  I'll have some TFF Golden Globes coverage here on Monday.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S MOST ANTICIPATED FOR 2025

The Hollywood Reporter put up their list of most anticipated films for 2025 this week.  from that list there are six films that could be TFF #52 players:

After the Hunt/Guadagnino

The Bride/Gyllenhaal

Bugonia/Lanthimos

Frankenstein/Del Toro

Marty Supreme/J. Safdie

Untitled Baumbach/Baumbach

Here's the complete list from THR.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from The Playlist.

Behind the Scenes of Better Man from Gold Derby.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays and More / The MTFB Nomination Totals / Interviews and Profiles: Eisenberg, Baker and Gracey

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS AND MORE

Here are updated nomination predictions for the Screenplay categories as well as for Best Costume Design, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects. These categories were last predicted on Dec. 12th.  A film's previous rank appears to the right in parentheses. TFF #51 films are in Bold.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Conclave (1)

2) Emilia Perez (2)

3) Sing Sing (3)

4) Nickel Boys (4)

5) Dune Part Two (5)

Others: A Complete Unknown, The Room Next Door and Wicked Part One.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Anora (1)

2) The Brutalist (3)

3) A Real Pain (2)

4) The Substance (5)

5) September 5 (4)

Others: Hard Truths, All We Imagine as Light and The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

BEST COSTUMES

1) Wicked Part One (1)

2) Dune Part Two (2)

3) Maria (4)

4) Gladiator II (3)

5) Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (-)

Others: Nosferatu, Conclave and A Complete Unknown.

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Substance (2)

2) Wicked Part One (3)

3) Dune Part Two (1)

4) Nosferatu (4)

5) A Different Man (-)

Others: Emilia Perez, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Maria.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Gladiator II (2)

3) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (3)

4) Wicked Part One (4)

5) Twisters (5)

Others: Better Man, Mufasa: The Lion King and Alien: Romulus.

MTFB NOMINATION TOTALS UPDATED

At the moment I am predicting 12 TFF #51 films to earn 40 nominations with another four films that could sneak into a nomination.  Also among those 16 films are 20 other possible nominations.  The following totals for nominations and possibilities:

Emilia Perez (11 nominations and another three possibles): Best Picture, Direction, International Feature, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress (Saldana), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Score, Song (El Mal), Song (Mi Camino) and Sound.  Possibles: Supporting Actress (Gomez), Cinematography and Makeup/Hair.

Conclave (Seven nominations and another four possibles): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actress (Rossellini),  Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Score.  Possibles: Supporting Actor (Tucci), Cinematography, Production Design and Costumes.

Anora (Six nominations): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Supporting Actor (Borisov), Original Screenplay and Editing.

Nickel Boys (Four nominations and one possible): Best Picture, Direction, Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.  Possible: Supporting Actress (Ellis-Taylor).

A Real Pain (Three nominations and one possible): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Culkin) and Original Screenplay.  Possible: Best Actor (Eisenberg).

Maria (Three nominations and one possible): Best Actress (Jolie), Cinematography and Costumes.  Possible: Makeup/Hair.

September 5 (One nomination and two possible): Best Original Screenplay.  Possibles: Best Picture and Editing.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (One nomination and one possible): Best International Feature.  Possible: Original Screenplay.

Will & Harper (One nomination and one possible): Best Documentary.  Possible: Song (Harper and Will Go West)

Memoir of a Snail (One nomination): Best Animated Feature.

No Other Land (One nomination): Best Documentary.

The Piano Lesson (One nomination): Best Supporting Actress (Deadwyler).

Other films with the possibility of a nomination:

The Apprentice: Best Actor (Stan) and Supporting Actor (Strong).

Piece by Piece: Best Animated Feature and Song (Piece by Piece).

All We Imagine as Light: Best Original Screenplay.

Better Man: Best Visual Effects.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from Pop Culture Confidential.

Sean Baker for Anora from Pop Culture Confidential.

Michael Gracey for Better Man from IndieWire.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Supporting Acting / TFF #51 Films Awarded / Behind the Scenes: Maria / TFF Films Qualify / Interviews and Profiles: Ronan, Lithgow, Rossellini and More

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING

Here are updated nomination predictions for the Supporting Acting categories for the 97th Academy Awards.  These categories were last predicted on Nov. 11th.  An actor's previous rank appears to the right of their names in parentheses.  TFF #51 actors/films are in Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez (1)

2) Isabella Rossellini/Conclave (4)

3) Danielle Deadwyler/The Piano Lesson (2)

4) Ariana Grande/Wicked (-)

5) Felicity Jones/The Brutalist (5)

Others: Saoirse Ronan/Blitz, Selena Gomez/Emilia Perez and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor/Nickel Boys.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain (1)

2) Denzel Washington/Gladiator II (2)

3) Guy Pearce/The Brutalist (3)

4) Clarence Maclin/Sing Sing (4)

5) Stanley Tucci/Conclave (5)

Others: Yura Borisov/Anora, Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice and John Magaro/September 5.

TFF #51 FILMS AWARDED

The Palm Springs International Film Fest names Kieran Culkin winner of its Breakthrough Performance Award.

BEHIND THE SCENES: MARIA

From Netflix via YouTube here's a behind the scenes video for the film Maria starring Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas.

TFF FILMS QUALIFY

Official lists of films that have qualified for Academy Award consideration for Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature were released by The Academy this week.  Here are the qualifiers that screened at TFF by category:

Animated Feature:

Memoir of a Snail

Piece by Piece

International Feature:

Emilia Perez/France

Santosh/United Kingdom

The Seed of the Sacred Fig/Germany

Documentary Feature:

Blink

Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid

Casa Bonita, Mi Amor

Food Inc. 2*

Hollywoodgate*

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

Martha

No Other Land

Piece by Piece

Separated

Will and Harper

Zurawski v. Texas

The complete lists can be accessed here via Awards Watch.

*Screened in TFF #50.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun from Awards Watch.

Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun from Awards Radar.

Isabella Rossellini for Conclave from IndieWire.

John Lithgow for Conclave from Awards Watch.

Leonie Benesch for September 5 from Gold Derby.

Director Tim Fehlbaum for September 5 from The Hollywood Reporter.

Mark Eydershteayn for Anora from Gold Derby.

Yura Borisov for Anora from Next Best Picture.

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from IndieWire.

Gabriel LaBelle for Saturday Night from Awards Watch.

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