Distributor Monday #5 Searchlight / Venice Announces Opening Film...Does It Play Telluride?

 DISTRIBUTOR MONDAY #5: SEARCHLIGHT

Today's look at film distributors that have a fairly impressive track record at screening things at Telluride continues with Searchlight Films (formerly Fox Searchlight).  Over the nine years I looked back (and leaving out the Covid year of 2020) Searchlight has landed at least one at Telluride every year except 2016.

Over the years Searchlight has had a good deal of success when playing films at Telluride.  Since 2008 five (Fox) Searchlight films have played TFF and subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Picture:

2009: Slumdog Millionaire

2014: 12 Years a Slave

2015: Birdman

2018: The Shape of Water

2021: Nomadland (would have played TFF had the fest happened.  TFF did sponsor a screening or two)

Searchlight has also had a number of other films that were Best Picture nominated.  Some of those were TFF films, some not.  Since 2015:

2016: Brooklyn

2018: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2019: The Favourite

2020: Jojo Rabbit

2022: Nightmare Alley

2023: The Banshees of Inisherin

2024: Poor Things

2025: A Complete Unknown

Looking at the possibilities from Searchlight we discover that there aren't many.  Three to be precise.  Here's the rundown for each listed in alphabetical order.  Participants in these films that have attended TFF previously are indicated with *.

In the Blink of an Eye.  Director: Andrew Stanton. Stars: Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.

Frankly, I'd be surprised if this turns up.

Is This Thing On?  Director: Bradley Cooper.  Stars: Bradley Cooper, Laura Dern*, Will Arnett, Ciaran Hinds.  Release date: TBD.  IMDB description:

As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while wife Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family-forcing them to navigate co-parenting and identity.

I'm actually pretty excited about this film.  I am wary that it will be ready in time.  IMDb reports that it went into post-production in April...so...  Laura Dern's participation doesn't hurt its chances of making a TFF appearance as she has been a TFF regular for some time now.

Rental Family.  Director: Hikari.  Stars: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

Japanese rental company hires struggling American actor in Tokyo. He plays various roles in clients' lives, embarking on an introspective journey through these unlikely experiences.

I actually think that Rental Family might be the most likely TFF entrant of the three.

Chances:

Rental Family 40%

Is This Thing On? 20%

In the Blink of an Eye 20%

Next week a look at Amazon/MGM.

VENICE ANNOUNCES OPENING FILM...DOES IT PLAY TELLURIDE?

The 82nd Venice Film Festival will open with Paolo Sorrentino's La Grazia (Grace).  Does that make it likely to also play at TFF #52?  That answer isn't clear at all.  Although I have frequently mentioned that the positioning of a film in the Venice schedule is crucial for any film that a distributor wants in both fests.  To make this double play a film has to be scheduled in Venice first two to three days.  Fourth day tops.  So you would think that Venice's opening night film would be a solid choice to make the way.  But...hold on...no so fast.  

I went back to 2010 and checked that scenario.  Here's what has opened Venice for each year since then with films that went on to cross the Atlantic to screen at T-ride indicated with a *.

2010: Black Swan*

2011: The Ides of March

2012: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

2013: Gravity*

2014: Birdman*

2015: Everest

2016: La La Land*

2017: Downsizing*

2018: First Man*

2019: The Truth

2020: The Ties

2021: Parallel Mothers

2022: White Noise

2023: Comandante

2024: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

As you can see, the Venice-Telluride scenario was very common from 2010-2018 with the Venice opener going west six times but beginning with 2019 the trend has not happened.

I can recall thinking that The Truth (19), Parallel Mothers (21) and White Noise (22) all had a pretty good shot at going to TFF and being wrong about them.

Muddying the predictive waters are the fact that director Paolo Sorrentino has recently been an invitee to Telluride.  In 2021 his The Hand of God did the Venice-Telluride thing with it playing Venice on Sept. 2 and then screening in Telluride the next day.

Additionally, La Grazia is being distributed in the U.S. by Mubi which has been a TFF player the last four years or so.

I'm inclined to think that the recent drought of Venice openers coming to Telluride isn't an accident.  It feels like the outcome of a deliberate choice to avoid that.  I have no real evidence other than the fact that the circumstance hasn't occurred for six straight years.

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As We Head Into June / Ken Burns' Next Big Thing / Maybe we Can Join The Serkis?

AS WE HEAD INTO JUNE

As I have mentioned, we're only a few days away from beginning a couple of summer traditions here at MTFB.  Starting Next week I'll begin running down each of the distributors that have been the most common players with films at Telluride.  I'll take a look at the films from each outfit that are the most probable TFF choices and try to assess each film's chances of actually going to TFF #52.

As a way of setting the table for that, here's a quick look at which distributors we're talking about.  First, a little methodology.  I looked at each year going back to 2015 to gather the info.  I did leave out the covid year cancelled TFF despite the fest having released a lineup because it was surely not complete at the time the decision was made to cancel that year.

That said, here are the eight distributors I'll be looking at over the next few weeks based on the number of films they have screened at Telluride since 2015:

Netflix: 34 (3.8/yr.)

Sony Pictures Classics (SPC): 31 (3.4/yr.)

Neon: 19 (2.1/yr.)

A24: 16 (1.8/yr.)

(Fox) Searchlight: 14 (1.6/yr.)

Amazon/MGM: 12 (1.3/yr.)

Focus Features: 10 (1.1/yr.)

Mubi: 5***

***I include Mubi on the list with its small number of five films because it's a late-comer to The SHOW having screened all 5 within the last four fests for an average of 1.25/yr.

Some interesting tidbits...

Obviously, Netflix has screened the most films since 2015 (its first appearance at TFF came that year) but SPC is only three behind and both distribs are the only outfits that have had films screen every year of this survey. 

Searchlight only missed one year in this time frame in 2016.

Three of these distributors only missed two years:

Neon in 2017and 2015.

A24 in 2024 and 2018.

Focus Features in 2019 and 2016.

Monday we'll start with Netflix and look at what films they have and what might play TFF #52.  Subsequently, we'll look at the other distributors each week in the order of which house has played the most at T-ride since 2015.

KEN BURNS' NEXT BIG THING

TFF Board of Governors member Ken Burns has begun promoting his next big project which is a documentary look at American Revolution as the nation begins to hit the 250 year milestones that will lead up to the nation's Semiquincentennial or Bisesquicentennial coming on July 4th, 2026.

The six part 12 hour series will air on PBS beginning on Nov. 16th.  Normally it would be a no-brainer to think that at least some portion of the series, if not all six parts, would play at TFF...but... as a part of the roll out for it they've already begun a nationwide tour which has/will include screenings of at least some of the doc.  Those began last march in Richmond, VA. and will continue through Oct. 9th in Washington D.C.  The press release says that additional dates are forthcoming.

One wonders if those presentations will dissuade TFF from screening any of it.  It is of note that there is a gap between a July 17th presentation in L.A. and sept. 20th presentation in Saratoga, NY.

Here's a link to its PBS landing page including a small clip from the doc.

And here's a link to the official press release.

All things considered, I still think it's likely that at least some segments will be screened at TFF #52.

MAYBE WE CAN JOIN THE SERKIS?

Animal Farm still via World of Reel

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reports that Andy Serkis' animated adaptation of George Orwell's classic Animal Farm will premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.  That fest is set to run June 8-14.

I have thought for awhile that this could be a TFF choice and its inclusion for Annecy is in no way a TFF disqualifier.  As a matter of fact I could see it playing along with Raoul Peck's Documentary about Orwell: Orwell: 2+2=5 which just screened at the Cannes fest last month as a kind of TFF double bill.

Just a thought.

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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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Checking the Distributors: Searchlight / Anatomy of a Fall Trailer and News / A New Film to Consider

 CHECKING THE DISTRIBUTORS: SEARCHLIGHT

The fifth installment of Checking the Distributors looks at Searchlight (which used to be Fox Searchlight until Disney bought them).  Searchlight has had a long and distinguished presence at TFF over the years.  Here's a look back at the films that they have screened at TFF since 2004:

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 

That's 25 films over a span of 19 fests.  Five Best Picture Oscar winners:

Slumdog Millionaire 2009

12 Years a Slave 2014

Birdman 2015

The Shape of Water 2018

Nomadland 2021

 Plus a total of  81 other Oscar nominations in that time.

So you have to figure that Searchlight likely lands one or two films at TFF #50.  The question is which ones?

Four films seem to have the best chance:

Poor Things/Yorgos Lanthimos (release date is Sept. 8)

Strangers/Andrew Haigh (release date is TBA)

Nightbitch/Marielle Heller (release date is TBA)

Next Goal Wins/Taika Waititi (release date is Nov. 17)

Three of the four directors have been at Telluride previously.

Haigh twice with 45 Years in 2015 and Lean on Pete in 2017.

Lanthimos with The Favourite in 2018

Heller with Can You Ever Forgive Me? also in 2018.

Next Goal Wins has a really weird history between scrubbing Armie Hammer and replacing him with Will Arnett the film has been shuffled around to a number of different release dates and now Searchlight has landed it smack in awards season on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Poor Things release date is a little odd as well coming right on the heels of both Venice and Telluride.  Venice closes on Sept. 9th.

Ultimately, here's where I start out rating their chances of playing T-ride:

Strangers 55%

Poor Things 45%

Next Goal Wins 25%

Nightbitch 10%***

***World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy reported this weekend that he has heard that Nightbitch will premiere at Toronto.

ANATOMY OF A FALL TRAILER AND NEWS

The Palme d'Or winning film, Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall has a new trailer out that coincides with its premiere in Paris on Wednesday.  The trailer isn't subtitled and has some English and some French spoken in it.  Still, it's a chance to get a sense of the prize winning film.  Here that is via YouTube:

In additional trailer news, apparently a trailer for Ethan Coen's Drive Away Dolls is screening ahead of Wes Anderson's Asteroid City.  I'm assuming its the same trailer screened at CinemaCon.  That should mean that we should see it fairly soon.

Meanwhile a Tweet from Ioncinema from earlier this month that I just ran across a couple of days ago suggests that NEON, which is distributing Anatomy of a Fall in the U.S. is aiming for a Telluride berth:

A NEW FILM TO CONSIDER

Photo via IMDb

Kate Winslet's new biopic about journalist Lee Miller is reportedly set to premiere at Venice.  It's a film that I have been keeping my eye on for some time but about which there has been little conversation as we get closer to lineup announcements for both Venice and Toronto.

A Venice premiere could also mean a play at TFF #50.  "Lee" is currently absent a distributor in the U.S.

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Searching the Searchlight Titles / Next Goal Wins This Fall / Trailer for Decision to Leave

SEARCHING THE SEARCHLIGHT TITLES

Another distributor with frequent appearances at Telluride is Searchlight (formerly Fox Searchlight) whose track record of success with films that have made the trip to the San Juans has been terrific.

Past (Fox) Searchlight TFF films include:

2021: The French Dispatch (1)

2020: Nomadland (1)

2019: A Hidden Life (1)
2018: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Old Man and the Gun (3)
2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes (2)
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala (1)
2014: Birdman (Best Picture Oscar), Wild (2)
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture Oscar) (1)
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants (2)
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan (3)
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture) (1)
2007: Juno, The Savages (2)
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake (2)
2005: Bee Season (1)
2004: Kinsey (1)

In 2022 Searchlight has four films by my count that could conceivably be in the mix for a TFF #49 slot:

Sam Mendes Empire of Light with Colin Firth and Olivia Colman (no release date as yet)

Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins with Michael Fassbender (no release date as yet but see below)

Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson(Oct. 21)

Stephen Williams Chevalier starring Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (no release date as yet)

The truth is that none of these seem to be a sure thing for Telluride.  On the other hand, they all seem like they could make the grade for TFF #49 as well.  Consider the order I listed them in as being the most to least likely with each film having somewhere between a 30%-35% shot at the TFF lineup.

NEXT GOAL WINS THIS FALL

From Reddit a "behind the scenes" photo from Next Goal Wins

Director/writer/producer Taika Waititi has let slip that Next Goal Wins will be dropping sometime this fall. That info comes originally from Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast and was then reported via The Playlist (Edward Davis posting on June 23rd).

Waititi is quoted as saying:

"Asked if that meant if Waititi would have two films out in 2022, “Thor: Love And Thunder” and “Next Goal Wins,” the filmmaker just simply said, “Yeah.” This would make sense and is timely. “Next Goal Wins” footage was screened at CinemaCon in Europe recently, and apparently went over like gangbusters so don’t be surprised if Searchlight finally unveils the release date for this one later in the fall."

IMDb does have the film listed as releasing in 2022.

Sounds like we could expect an announcement from Searchlight soon.

TRAILER FOR DECISION TO LEAVE

Park Chan-wook was named Best Director at Cannes in May for Decision to Leave.  The film has an Oct. 14th release date in the United States.  It opens in France and South Korea on Wednesday.  Alex Billington's FirstShowing.net led me to the release of the international trailer for the film which is described by IMDb as:

"A detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing."

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

You have to think Decision to Leave is on TFF programmers' radars after the Best Director win at Cannes.

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Views of Cannes' Titles (That We Might See?) / The Distribs: Searchlight

VIEWS OF CANNES' TITLES (THAT WE MIGHT SEE?)

With the announcement on Wednesday of 50+ films that will carry the seal of official selection for the 73rd Cannes Film Festival going forward through the rest of 2020 and into 2021 we began to see the release of tearers, trialers and stills from a njumber of projects.  I'm passing along some of those that I came across over the past few days with an emphasis being on thise titles that feel like they could make their way to Telluride.

TRALER FOR THE FRENCH DISPATCH/WES ANDERSON (YouTube)

TRAILER FOR ANOTHER ROUND/THOMAS VINTERBERG (YouYube)

TEASER FOR ETE '85 (SUMMER '85)/FRANCOIS OZON (YouTube)

TEASER FOR TRUE MOTHERS/NAOMI KAWASE (YouTube)

STILLS FROM MANGROVE AND LOVER'S ROCK/STEVE MC QUEEN (The Film Stage)

THE DISTRIBS: SEARCHLIGHT

The annual summer look at film distribution outfits that have had a significant relationship with the Telluride Film Festival over the years begins today.

We'll begin our analysis with TFF stalwart Searchlight (used to be Fox Searchlight but underwent the name alteration after Disney bought them).

Searchlight's recent history with TFF:

2019: A Hidden Life (1)
2018: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Ne?, The Old Man and the Gun (3)
2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes (2)
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala (1)
2014: Birdman (Best Picture Oscar), Wild (2)
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture Oscar) (1)
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants (2)
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan (3)
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture) (1)
2007: Juno, The Savages (2)
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake (2)
2005: Bee Season (1)
2004: Kinsey (1)

That means Searchlight averages just under 1 1/2 films at TFF each year over the last 16 years.  This year their cupboard is full of films that could make an appearance at TFF.  As we'll be saying all summer...so much is going to depend on the perception of film makers, talent, distributors and pass holders as to what films actually end up in The SHOW.

That said, Searchlight has four contenders.

The first to mention is Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch.  It's a film that would not have been on the Telluride radar at all if things were "normal" but the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in it being moved off its original release date to a current announced date of Oct. 16th.  That signals that the film could conceiveably play any or all of the fall fests TFF, TIFF, Venice and/or New York.  It was believed that it would be the opening night film for Cannes original May dates, you know that it must be ready to screen for audiences.

Next up is Chloe Zhao's Nomadland starring Frances McDormand.  This film was on my lookout list last year! However, I was surprised that we didn't see it show up on the Cannes list last week.  That could be a warning sign.  It could also mean that Searchlight decided not to go after a Cannes slot ofr the film...maybe Venice?

The other two Searchlight properties may have trouble being ready for a TFF date.  Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye went into post-production in December and Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins went into post in January.  With the shutdown of the industry in March due to the pandemic, both films are question marks at this time.

Also, a quick word about a fifth film, Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley.  Prior to the pandemic I might have thought that this film had an outside shot at making Telluride but it looked like Del Toro would have to really work quickly to get it done in time.  Now, however, with IMDb describing the film as "filming" (as of Jan. 20th) I have to think that it's going to be a 2021 release.

Chances for TFF #47:

The French Dispatch 40%
Nomadland 40%
Tammy Faye and Next Goal Wins 25%

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