Academy Anonymous
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Academy Anonymous
Oscar Season 2025-2026: Countdown to Cannes, Official Lineup Reveal Predictions
On this episode of ACADEMY ANONYMOUS:
We take a deep dive into which titles we foresee in tomorrow's major Cannes announcement!!
Hello, friends, and welcome to a very special episode of Academy Anonymous. I am your host, joseph, and I'm flying solo today. Jules could not be here, but he will be here for the next episode and I'm here with a special bulletin because I'm covering what is going to be the lead-up to the announcement, the official announcement by the Cannes Film Festival of the competition lineup. This is the Countdown to Cannes. We started this a few weeks ago, a few episodes ago, and so this will be be part two of our conversation, just to give you a heads up of what you can anticipate for tomorrow. Of course, remember that the festival runs from May 13 to May 24. So a lot of big titles here on the sort of international spectrum of filmmaking, but we're also going to see some, I think, advanced screenings of some pretty important blockbuster titles, and I think that is probably the place to start. So let's start by talking about some of these special screenings that we'll be seeing or that we're likely to be seeing. On the official kind of announcement, I do think that they'll include this in the announcement and they're not part of the official competition lineup, but I think we're going to be seeing a revelation of some titles that are going to come from the states that are going to play out of competition, and there's already been rumblings about one, and that should certainly be Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning. We know that's going to be a big summer movie from Paramount, and the best place for it to bow would be at the Cannes Film Festival. Of course, you know Tom Cruise, no stranger to Cannes. Everyone knows about the stunt that he did for the Olympics the most recent Olympics so I'm sure that France is going to embrace him with open arms. So look out for Tom on the cassette, remember, the official release date for that film is May 23rd, as of today, and so that lines up pretty well with this festival Not Tom's first time there. At the same time, keep in mind that it's interesting to see Mission Impossible premiering there. Some of the bigger blockbusters from the studios have not fared well after premiering there.
Joseph:I think tom is going to have you know, uh, he's going to break that pattern. I do think final reckoning is going to do well, um, he has a lot of the same collaborators coming back from the original dead reckoning part one, which is now dead reckoning um, including the editor who was nominated for an oscar for maverick and the sound designers got a couple of them there nominations for top gun, maverick and belfast, and of course they broke through finally with mission impossible. Dead reckoning and even some of the visual effects artists are coming from dead reckoning part one, which again finally broke through at the oscars for this franchise, and so I, if this is a big summer movie, this is another title that'll probably end up being a big contender for the Oscars in terms of things like sound and visual effects. You know how good the film is, how well received it is at con by critics, internationally, domestically, how much money it makes. All of those things are signs that could potentially push the movie further up the ladder in terms of what kind of embrace it would get from the academy. We'll see what happens. I was a big fan of dead reckoning part one and I would never have thought that dead reckoning would have been the film to break through for mission impossible. But now that it has broken through, you know, I think it it opens up the possibility for this final chapter in the franchise, and maybe the final chapter for Tom in the franchise, to sort of show up in other categories and let alone repeat in those same categories.
Joseph:So watch out for, in my opinion, is something like F1, with Tom's former collaborator, joseph Kaczynski. He's the director of Top Gun Maverick and this has a big sort of splashy summer bow, also on June 27th. That's coming from Warner Brothers handling the theatrical, and Apple TV is going to stream it later, but it's a collaboration from both of them. It seems to me like this would be the place to sort of have that film premiere as a special screening, a lot of anticipation for this film. Again, I think it's a very global film. Some interesting key collaborators here for F1, including Claudia Miranda, who was the DP of Top Gun Maverick, who got snubbed for that film. Hans Zimmer's doing the score. He's a reputable favorite at the Academy. You have Steven Marion doing the editing, very, very well regarded within the Academy, and you have a lot of good sound designers Gary Rizzo, for example, who won for Top Gun Maverick. Gwendolyn Yates is also there. So, uh, this is a film that, if it does premiere at Cannes, you should totally you know anticipate it. You know being a contender in categories uh, below the line, at least, you know, in categories like editing and sound. Um, maybe even, uh, the the work of the DP Claudia Miranda, who got snubbed last time. So look out for that.
Joseph:I think I'm not sure what the reception is going to be for this movie. I know the anticipation is very high. I know Brad is in this. They've released footage. They've released a trailer. If you want to look at it. I wasn't too impressed with it. I'm not sure this is, you know, reed sort of maybe coattailing on the Top Gun Maverick formula without the legacy of Top Gun Maverick. So we'll see what happens. But I think we can see that.
Joseph:I think one film that people have sort of spotlighted as a contender in competition I think it's actually a better contender for a special screening. It's actually a better contender for a special screening and a lot of people have been quoting Spike Lee's most recent film, highest to Lowest, as a movie that we'll see in competition. I don't disqualify that, but for some reason I'm feeling that it is going to land in a special screening out of competition. Of course, this film from Spike Lee sort of a reinterpretation, as he said, of Kira Kurosawa's High to Low and I think Spike Lee was in competition last for Black Klansman, which did very well eventually got on for Best Picture and got Spike Lee, his first Oscar, and the Five Bloods, I believe was meant to play out of competition, but COVID happened that year.
Joseph:Um, of course, you know Denzel Washington is in this um, but I think Halle Berry, who was at one point involved, may no longer be involved. I'm not seeing too much of her on the IMDB page. The other key actors that I would keep an eye out in terms of roles and performances that are going to call out to critics I would keep an eye out for Jeffrey Wright and A$AP Rocky, who I think are going to have good parts in this film, aside from Denzel, of course. And you're going to have a lot of Spike Lee's previous collaborators here, including the cinematographer of choice lately, which is Matthew Levitique, who shot Chirac Inside man for Spike Lee. You have the editor from Black Klansman coming back he was nominated for that and even some sound designers from Black Klansman and the Five Bloods coming for this film.
Joseph:So this is a collaboration between A24 and Apple TV. Interesting that Apple TV has both these titles, but I do think that it would be appropriate to see at least one of these Highest to Lowest or F1 there repping Apple TV. I don't think that there's too many titles from A24. And so this would make it a good place for A24 to somewhat be in the festival. I doubt that A24 is going to take the festival off. I think their brand is just growing domestically, internationally, and so they want to be part of this festival, not just on the acquisition side but on the side of displaying. You know some of the work that they've been doing lately. So I do think Hi ISA Lois is going to play the festival out of competition, which sort of brings us to the next couple of titles, jumping off the A24 train. Right, because there are a few titles, some of which some people are flirting with, others which others have dismissed.
Joseph:Let's talk about 824's other title which could really land here, which is eddington, right, and that's from ari aster. Uh, and that's 824, um, pedro pascal's in that. Emma stone, joaquin phoenix, austin butler uh, it'll be very interesting to see this movie. Um, because it'll be the first time that ari aster is collaborating with the cinematographer Darius Kanji. Darius Kanji, I think the Iranian cinematographer very open to working with new filmmakers, filmmakers he hasn't collaborated with before, come up with some exceptional work. Think about Uncut Gems. That was the first time he collaborated with the Safdie brothers. Think about Uncut Gems. That was the first time he collaborated with the Safdie brothers. He's also shot the Immigrant and Armageddon Time for James white, which is a new move for Ari Aster. We'll see if that's the case.
Joseph:Another interesting thing here is you have the some of the makeup team behind Willis Afraid coming back and we know that that sort of placed on the long list for makeup. Even some of those individuals were involved with the Apprentice, which was also long listed. So I think we may have another Ari Aster piece that has a good deal of makeup in it. Prosthetics work and maybe even makeup effects work. So that would be interesting to see.
Joseph:I mean, ari Aster has not been embraced by the Academy yet. Although we know just from last year and the embrace of Sean Baker and Robert Eggers that it's only a matter of time before Ari Aster gets embraced by the Academy. I question whether he'll have to make something a little bit more neutral, a little less Ari Aster, to finally be embraced. You know, I wonder if he isn isn't more and I've had this discussion with jules if he isn't more. David fincher, who had to be sort of was, was only embraced with all those nominations after the curious case of benjamin budden, which is a very different film for david fincher, as opposed to his work on films like Seven, for example, than the Coen brothers. Right, because the Coen brothers, when they're embraced by the Academy for Fargo, that's very much, you know, a tried and true Coen brothers sort of film.
Joseph:I do wonder if Ari Aster is going to have to release a film that, you know, maybe the Academy would label less indulgent or easier to sort of access than his other work, which is, which is fantastic. Um, so we'll see what happens with that, but I I think, um, this would be the biggest title that A24 could potentially get into competition. Um, you know, a24 is interesting because I think, looking at their history, uh, they acquired the film Close in the 2022 competition and they showed, or they presented showing up that same year. So they presented, uh, their own production showed up and they acquired Close in 2022. And in 2023, they presented their production of the zone of interest, which did really well, and in 2024, I believe, they ended up acquiring parthenope before it actually premiered at the con film festival, right after it was announced, um, as, as partaking in competition, of course, parthenope being the italian title which, at the end they couldn't really get into any Oscar category, but they did buy that.
Joseph:So the question is is A24 going to be presenting a film that they've already produced and are ready to sort of show the world? We know Ari Aster and A24 like their summer date. We haven't really seen a lot of Ari Aster come out in the fall. A lot of Ari Aster come out in the fall, and so if the idea is that Eddington is going to get a summer release, which is sort of the formula that A24 and Ari Aster have liked, much like Christopher Nolan and his collaborators if that is the case, this would be the place to debut the film. At the same time, a24, if they feel that Ari Aster's film maybe would not play as well here, they may decide to just, you know, forego a festival and debut it by itself. There's a chance of that.
Joseph:If that's the case, if a 24 doesn't put up another title, for example highest to lowest, I would look for them to be buyers. As soon as the competition is announced, they'll start screening and then start picking up the titles that they think are most interesting or the titles that they think fit their brand and their label best that they'll be able to campaign the rest of the year. But I do think we'll end up seeing Eddington here, and part of that is because, in my opinion, there's going to be a little bit of an issue as the year goes on, which is that Emma Stone is in two really big movies. One of them is Eddington, which we've just discussed, and the other one is Begonia from Yorgos Lanthimos, which a lot of outlets, including Variety, have pretty much dismissed for this festival. Lanthimos is coming off his Cannes premiere for Kinds of Kindness, where it did relatively well and it had a summer release. Now Begonia from lanthimos is from focus features and it's dated for november 7, and so of course that sort of makes more sense with the fall festivals.
Joseph:Maybe a venice bow? I think the argument here against a venice bow for Begonia is that I'm not sure that there's. I think that there's only ceiling left for Yorgos Lanthimos at Venice. Um, after premiering Poor Things and the Favorite there, I'm not sure that there's going to be much more room for Lanthimos to win significant prizes at the festival. So I don't know if maybe the Orgos and Focus Features would rather place him in Cannes because he hasn't won a very significant prize there yet. So I would look for that. At the same time, you know, one of the standout roles for this film is probably going to be Jesse Plemons and he just won for Alanthimos film, so but Emma Stone hasn't won and she's in this film as well and I think she has a very meaty part and I think people are going to be very taken by that performance.
Joseph:And I don't see what I definitely don't see is both Emma Stone films coming out at the same time. To me I almost feel like that's a bad strategy and they're aware of that. It's better to give each title a moment and space. So something in summer and something in fall um, even something fall and winter, I think is a little too close. But I think the the idea should be to have both emma stone titles sort of possess one season of the sort of entirety of the oscar season. So eddington in summer and bugonia in the fall um. That if they forego the Eddington premiere at Cannes, I would not be surprised to see Emma Stone at the Cosette. And especially if maybe they don't want to take Yorgo's film to Venice because they don't think that he has very much of a chance of winning that really big prize once again.
Joseph:Interesting thing about this film also is that it's a remake of the South Korean title Save the Green Planet, which I think there has been some info online that I've been able to find that sort of indicates that it premiered in Cannes and maybe a sidebar. I can't get confirmation on that, but if that were true then that might be an indication that this is a place where Yorgos would want to take it. And then another interesting thing about this title is that it is also being brought to you by cj entertainment, and that's the south korean outlet and we have already heard or seen their the headlines about how they want to expand and have a larger global reach, and I think this is one of those titles that's going to be emblematic of that. That's sort of going to position them for that position, sort of what they hope the company can accomplish over the next few years, possibly decade. So keep an eye out for that and also that the writer is the writer from the menu.
Joseph:Some critics liked it, some critics did not like it. Yoko's is coming off Kinds of Kindness, which again had a little bit of a polarizing reaction. So I'm not sure if Begonia is going to go the way of Poor Things or the way of Kinds of Kindness, but I am pretty sure that Emma Stone is not going to be premiering both films at the same time. It just doesn't sound like a smart strategy to me. All right, well, that brings us to.
Joseph:Let's talk about those titles that I think have a chance of showing up on this list. Um, and I think the best place to start is with lynn ramsey's latest die. My love variety claimed a few weeks back that they thought this was a maybe, that this was not a sure thing. Of course, this film is starring jennifer Lawrence, who's also producing, but it includes Robert Pattinson, lakeith Stanfield, nick Nolte, ceci Spacek all previous nominees. It looks like it's going to be a lot of good roles for each of those actors. Interesting also to note that Martin Scorsese is listed as a producer on this and that Black Label Media media, who was involved in sicario, la la land and 71, they're behind this product as well. Um, as I said, jennifer lawrence's production company, excellent cadaver, will be here. Distribution is actually up for grabs on this title.
Joseph:Um, which is A Jennifer Lawrence film, is going to be marketed to a wide audience, but this film reads a lot to me, like Mother, in the sense that it could turn off a lot of people. The screenwriter, endo Walsh, most recently wrote Small Things Like these, which was a fantastic film, one of my favorite films from last year, also involved in Hunger in 2008 from Steve McQueen. Another key collaborator here for Lynne Ramsey will be Seamus McGarvey, who's a wonderful, wonderful cinematographer who doesn't get spoken about enough, who's made such exquisite films with joe wright but also worked on lynn ramsey's beautiful, beautifully lensed we need to talk about kevin so that's something to sort of look out for. There have been rumblings online that this film is sort of in the horror genre and I do know it's adapted um from the work of an argentine writer, um, but from what I've read about the material, I think it's going to be interesting in terms of the Oscar race. If this does get included in Cannes, what sort of exception it has? If it's positive or negative or polarizing, then Ramsey has a long history with Cannes, so she's a really good bet for a selection here in competition, beside the fact of, you know, wanting Jennifer Lawrence on that carpet and again, jennifer Lawrence hasn't really had a chance to walk, I believe, the Khan carpet in competition. But what's interesting about Die my Love is if you start to familiarize yourself with the material, it really sounds like, and it's going to have a challenge coming up against the Sundown's breakout title. If I had Legs I'd Kick you.
Joseph:There's a lot of crossover, in my opinion, between the two projects, so if both projects are well-received, I think that one of them is going to usurp the other, overshadow the other. I'm not sure which one. I think die my love might be a little bit more glitzy with its cast crew scorsese's there as a producer, jennifer lawrence, lynn, ramsey, um. So that's something to look out for, because I would say that this title without distribution, you know, has 824 written all over it. But considering that a24 has what essentially, on paper at least to me, sounds like a sister title, I don't know that they have the room to campaign them both. So that really means that this film would have to go to someone like neon um should a24 pass.
Joseph:If neon does campaign it, they're going to have the challenge that A24 is campaigning a very similar title, or what appears to be or may be a very similar title, and they may end up canceling each other out. We'll see what happens, but that's something to look out for as the season progresses how many critics or individuals or audience members are going to talk about the crossover between those two films and if it'll be a detriment to both pictures, not just one. Another important filmmaker to talk about and I'm glad we're talking about sort of female filmmakers here, because Khan has made an effort as of late to include more of them but we have to talk about Kelly Reichardt, the master independent filmmaker from the States, and she has the Mastermind, which is produced by a movie starring Josh O'Connor, John Magaro, gabby Hoffman, bill Camp, hope Davis, alana Haim Sounds like an excellent film. It is a period film. As far as we know, it's a 70s sort of heist film and has sort of a context of the Vietnam. War.
Joseph:And I think there are some references to the women's liberation movement of the time. It sounds very fascinating. You know Kelly Reichardt, a very patient, probing filmmaker, very subdued filmmaker, one of our absolute favorites, and again, I'm going to go with that idea that Josh O'Connor is going to have such an immense year. He already has a title at Sundance which I think has yet to be bought, but it will be bought at some point, and he has another title coming out later, I think, or possibly at Cannes, I suppose, with Paul Meskel. And my point being there is that I, like Emma Stone, josh O'Connor should probably be looking to premiere one film in the summer and one film in the fall. I don't know when the Mastermind is slated to come out. We know. Again, movie is behind this, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to have Josh O'Connor walk the same carpet twice for two different movies. So I think that the Mastermind is an excellent play for Khan and Khan has really embraced Kelly Reichardt. They last showed her film showing up there and it did really well. So I would expect this to be one of the American titles in competition, one of the female filmmakers invited and this would be the Josh O'Connor summer debut, even though the Mastermind may actually end up hitting, uh, in the fall, in the winter, and you know we saw showing up, you know end up getting placed for the following year? I doubt they do that because I think Josh O'Connor is planning on a really big year, um, so this film sounds fascinating, sounds wonderful, um, and so I think we'll be seeing that in competition.
Joseph:Another female filmmaker to talk about is Rebecca Zlatowski. Right, because we know that the con lineup is going to make room for both female filmmakers, but they're also going to make room for French filmmakers, and so she has Private Life, or V Privé, and that's already been acquired by Sony Picture Classics and that's going to star Jodie Foster. And what is I, from my understanding, a performance done fully in French. Jodie Foster, very fluent in that, if you've ever seen her, her work with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and that film in 2004, I believe, a very long engagement, uh, very fluid in French. She plays a sort, I believe, but there's a little bit of, I think, an aspect of a mystery here to this film. Virginia Efira is in this film who's worked with Rebecca before Mathieu Maric. Of course, the co-writer on this was a co-writer on Happening.
Joseph:It's interesting because Rebecca Zlotowski, if she were to be selected in competition, this would be her first time competing there. She has been at the festival for different films, including Dear Prudence in 2010. She was in Critics Week and Grand Central in 2013. She was invited to Answer no Regard An Easy Girl, which is a wonderful film. Uh, in 2019 was on the director's fortnight and um her title, other people's children, actually went to venice. So she's never been invited in the actual competition lineup of con and it'd be great to see her there. She's a wonderful filmmaker. Uh, her work with uh virginie a few years ago was wonderful. Other People's Children, I believe, gets great performances out of her cast. But it's also really encouraging to sort of see this filmmaker sort of climb the ranks at Cannes and finally get that invitation into competition, should the film do really well. I think Jodie Foster is something to really look at here. She hasn't been nominated for Best Actress in a long time. Rebecca gets great performances from her actors, especially her leads, and you'll see that in all her work, and she writes fantastic roles for women, very dimensional roles for women, and so I think Jodie Foster could benefit from that, although her recent nomination for NIAID may be a little bit of a hurdle.
Joseph:Someone I think that we'll definitely see that I'm very excited about is the new film from Cleaver Mandunko-Fuho Secret Agent, or the Secret Agent. I think Variety is somewhat hot on this Title II premiering there. Cleaver, of course, has been really embraced by khan um. This film looks very interesting and I think khan is also aware that. You know, the brazilian title I'm still here was a runaway success at venice and they want to have, they sort of want a piece of that brazilian action, that brazil Brazilian cinema action that's really popular at the moment, right now, and has had a lot of crossover success at the US, if you look at I'm Still here and globally. And so I think that they're definitely going to be inviting Kleber's new film, which stars Wagner Mora, which is great to see. He had a standout part in last year's Civil War. I think he's gonna have a great part here.
Joseph:I think the film, as far as I know, has to do with again the 1970s is a really popular topic right now 1970s, brazil, right, because of everything that's going on in the world and certainly the United States, and so I think we're in the final years of Brazilian dictatorship in the 70s and Wagner Mora, who's also producing um, is sort of, I think, trying to evade certain forces that are coming after him, and it sort of goes to this reclusive area in brazil to sort of hide out um and of course, you know, in in very cleaver sort of way. I'm sure genre is going to play out here in very interesting ways. You know, spy genre, maybe some other genres. No distribution on this. Yet I hear also that there's going to be, beyond genre influences, some context of Brazil's Carnival right, which is cinematic in and of itself. Yudu Kair is back on this and I don't know if he has a significant role or a cameo, but he did work with Kleber on Baccarat, which is another wonderful film, and I don't know if he has a significant role or a cameo, but he did work with Kleber on Baccarat, which is another wonderful film.
Joseph:This is one of those titles that I think, as soon as competition is mentioned, someone's going to sweep up these distribution rights for the US and I think, again off the heels of I'm Still here, whoever picks this up, I think, is going to try to push this, you know, beyond the foreign film category into best director, best actor for Wagner um, best writing and best picture. I think that we're in a moment where Brazilian cinema is having a resurgence and that's wonderful to see, and I and I can't wait to see this film. I think Gliber is a genius Um, and I think this is a great opportunity for Wagner Mora to have a nice leading role in a film. So I think someone's going to pick this up really quick, so we'll see what happens there.
Joseph:Let's talk about Kirill Serebrennikov, because, like Lin Ramsey, kirill has been a favorite of Khan lately and he has a new film, disappearance of Joseph Mengele. If anyone's familiar with the historic figure, you know, sort of the Nazi evading capture and so Variety, I think sort of hinted that this title could show up. Serebrennikov is on a bit of a roll with Khan, although the results of his premieres have been sort of hot and cold, and so maybe Khan wants to possibly take a little bit of a break. I'm not sure, but the topic sounds incredibly timely with the search for Mengele. Obviously, this is adapted from a novel by Olivier Suez, and I thought it was interesting to see that August Diel got the lead role as Joseph Mengele, and I think a lot of you are going to recognize August Diel when the film comes out, from his role in Inglourious Bastards with Quentin Tarantino, which also went to Cannes, and his role in A Hidden Life. Right, the German actor is very recognizable. He was the lead on A Hidden Life, which also went to Cannes, and so I think watch out for Agust Diel to maybe, if invited to competition, maybe get that best actor prize or have a run for that best actor prize and if the film sort of lives up to you know, the expectation of a film that's going to tackle that topic of Joseph Mengele, watch out for him to cross over possibly.
Joseph:Um, another title that I think a lot of people are hot on the idea that we're going to see at the con film festival is the latest from the darden brothers. Um, although I think there has been some, maybe suspicion that the film isn't ready yet. Uh, the film in english, I believe, is called Young Mothers, in French La Maison Maternelle, which is the Young Mother's Home. The translation, I don't know that. We have any sort of confirmation. In terms of distribution, we know that the Dardenne brothers have been sort of jumping around with their recent distribution partners. They've had, for example, sundance Selects for two days, one night. They've worked with Kino Lorber, they've worked with Sideshow, I think, most recently on their most recent premiere at Cannes. So I'm not sure who their distribution partners are yet, which you know could maybe say that this isn't going to be the title from the Dardenne brothers to sort of cross over, but the Dardenne brothers are such amazing filmmakers. The Dardar brothers to sort of cross over, but the Dardar brothers are such amazing filmmakers. And I believe this film has to do with, um, a lot of expectant mothers that have gathered under the shelter because they have nowhere else to go, and so it's going to be sort of this, I think examination of motherhood and the perseverance of motherhood. Um, it can be, I think, fascinating. I'm going to have a, uh, really interesting cast here. Um, I'm going to have a really interesting cast here. So I will look out for this title in competition. And then I think another sort of con favorite that we'll be seeing is, I think we'll see the new film from Park Chan-wook, south Korean Master. I believe the name of the film is no Other Choice. Variety had this listed as a maybe, but I'm feeling really good about it.
Joseph:This is an adaptation of Donald Westlake's novel the Axe. Donald Westlake, if you're not familiar, was actually nominated for an Oscar for writing the Grifters back in 1990. It had John Cusack and Nat Benning, angelica Hewson wonderful film produced by, or executive produced, I should say, by, martin Scorsese, directed by Stephen Frears'm here for a bunch of categories uh, very much in sort of that noir space that donald westlake is very famous for. Um, and people will recognize him or his name from the work of point blank and the hot rock films from the 70s which are seminal um, and he wrote the novels for those films that were eventually adapted. He also had the actor right. He wrote the source material for the actor which Neon acquired years ago before production.
Joseph:I think they sort of threw it away this year. I'm not sure how many people had an opportunity to see it with Andre Holland. It's a wonderful film. So it's kind of interesting that Donald Westlake is, you know, back in the ether here with this adaptation of the acts, considering that he was sort of the source material or the inspiration for the actor. It's also interesting to note that Costa Gavras sort of made an adaptation of the acts back in 05, but it didn't get any US distribution. But if you have a little bit of an idea of what the film or what the source material is about. It's really interesting.
Joseph:I think it's possibly could have a lot of crossover appeal with American audiences. Again, no distributor on this yet, but I think that someone's going to pick this up really quick, especially if it does well. Cj Entertainment, again, like Begonia, is on here. So watch for that to be a theme this year, as they try to, you know, push forward those expansion efforts. Watch for this film to possibly cross over. I'm not sure if it'll reach the heights of Parasite, but there's a certain topicality, I suppose, to its subject that I think a lot of people are going to find interesting and subversive and possibly fun or possibly worth checking out.
Joseph:And right now Park Chan-wook is coming off the Sympathizer, which wasn't the runaway success that everyone had hoped for but was nonetheless well-received. One of the co-writers on this, don McKellar, is actually a very interesting writer, possibly most known for the Red Violin. Last Night was a wonderful film from the 90s, Blindness in 08. And he has some writing credits on the Sympathizer. So this is not, you know, their first time collaborating Don McKellar and Park Jung-wook. This could be interesting. Park Jung-wook, of course, was last in competition, I believe, for Decision to Leave, which was wonderful, and Handmaiden was there the time before that.
Joseph:And the lead actor in the film and I think the lead part is a meaty one is the actor Lee Byung-hun, who is in I Saw the Devil, the Good, the Bad and the Weird Joint Security Area. But he's also made some American films including Terminator, genisys, magnificent Seven, gi Joe, retaliation. So he's very much, I think, a cross-cultural star and I think this could be a moment for him to sort of shine on the global scale. And again, with the nature of the role, I think he's in the thick of the best actor race here at Cannes, along with names like Vagramora Agustiel. So Lee Byung-hun, I think, is possibly another contender here for best actor. And again, if the film really takes off and becomes a crossover success and is pushed beyond foreign language film or international film into categories like adapted screenplay, into categories like picture, I would not be surprised to see a push for that actor into best actor.
Joseph:I think the role, I think the part is very meaty and I think the project is very meaty. And I think the deeper we get into the financial problems of the United States this year, um the more timely. This piece is going to get um, and not just in the united states, but really globally, and so I would watch out for no other choice to be to make a big splash at con and, to, you know, steal the spotlight from a lot of other movies. Um, I think I. I would also want to mention that christian pitt sold, the german filmmaker, who's wonderful. If you've seen his film phoenix or transit. He has a title called mirage, number three. Um, starring paula beer, who is uh often working with him and has really wonderful roles with him, does really great work with him. Uh, undine was a role was another film that she did with him. Great work with him. Undine was a role was another film that she did with him, alongside a film like Transit, for example, and A Fire.
Joseph:That film from Christian has yet to premiere and I think it's been in production for a while. A Fire I think 2023 was when it bowed, but it was really done by 2022. So I think Christian has had enough time to work on this film and I think he may be done. It's because Christian Petzold, you know, really tends to premiere in Berlin he's a German filmmaker, after all but this did not show up at Berlin this year, which makes me think that maybe there is a chance that this will be the first time he premieres at Cannes. His, his titles have gone to other festivals, including Toronto, for example, for example, but I don't know. I think that maybe this would be an opportunity for him to premiere at Cannes in competition. It's interesting to note that this is one of the few titles that already has US distribution, and that's Metrograph, which is the outlet that's really trying to sort of compete with both Neon and A24, which is great because that's what the sort of, I think, theatrical space needs more of more of these small indie boutique I say small in quotation marks boutique labels that are going to release these sort of art house films and international films that have a great opportunity of having a wider outreach to audiences. So watch out for Christian Pensold's newest film.
Joseph:Um, let's talk about karima news. Um, who is going to try to get rose bush pruning into competition, I think. Uh, karima has had a lot of titles, I think. Play at the con film festival lately, I think, most recently motel dostino, karim, a brazilian filmmaker, motostino, a Brazilian film. This film, I believe, is in English. It's not a Brazilian film.
Joseph:Kareem has had a lot of success getting selected recently, but he hasn't had a lot of success, unfortunately, crossing over and and sort of capitalizing on that success with the actual release of his films. For example, motel Dest, you know, didn't really go very far after that premiere. So I don't know if Khan is going to want to possibly take a break from having his titles in competition. It's also interesting that it's, you know, an English language title and I think they have a lot of choices there. So, kareem, you know he won't really be able to represent Brazil here as well as, for example, the secret agent from Kleber, as he has had other years, and there may be too many English language speaking titles, like Kelly Ryker, for example, or Die my Love, to sort of allow him to get into competition for this. Interesting because the cast includes Al Fanning, who's going to have a wonderful year and may already be a con, riley Cowell, callum Turner, pamela Anderson is in this as well. Interesting because the cast includes Al Fanning, who's going to have a wonderful year and may already be a con. Riley Cowell, callum Turner, pamela Anderson is in this as well, and I think one of the advantages it may have getting into competition is that I think it is a remake of the 1965 satire by Marco Bellocchio Fist in the Pocket, I believe, is the title, and also that I think that one of the co-writers on the film is actually a collaborator of Yorgos Lanthimos, and so this is somewhat, I think, satirizing.
Joseph:You know, maybe we'll call it familiar relationships or relationships in general in contemporary and modern world, even though I think it's going to take place in the 50s, I believe. And again, I think that this has moved from its original setting to an American setting. Again, this is just what I've read online. So watch out for Rose Bush Pruning to maybe get in there. Another title that may be able to get in there the director hasn't been in competition for a while is Sergei Loznitsa. He's presenting a film called Two Prosecutors. I think it has a good chance of getting into competition because Saeed bin Saeed, who makes a lot of titles that go to Cannes, he's a producer on this and I think that might be one of the ways that this film could end up getting selected in competition. Um, as far as I know, it's going to take place over stalin's uh great terror in 1937. That might be a a topical sort of uh issue or a topical subject for the festival to include. I think los nizza was last there for donbass um, which was very much sort of speaking about the conflict in ukraine, and so I I would not be surprised to see los nizza in competition this time, um, because Donbass, I believe, was put into the uncertain regard sidebar. So we'll see what happens there.
Joseph:Um, I think, ildiko and Yeti, the Hungarian filmmaker who a lot of people may recognize from On Body and Soul, which was nominated for international film. She has a film called Silent Friend, um, which is really interesting because it really centers around, sort of, from my understanding, a tree across different moments in time and Leah Sato's in this. We know that Khan loves Leah. Tony Leung's in this. I believe this is shot in Germany. I think she did go to Khan for her previous title Story of my Wife. I'm not sure it did well. I think she did go to Cannes for her previous title Story of my Wife. I'm not sure it did well, but this has been a title that sort of has been popping up for a while now and has yet to actually bow. I wonder if this may be the opportunity for it to sort of premiere Another title that I've heard could end up getting a slot in competition is called Calle Malaga, which is from a filmmaker from Tangier, mariam Touzani, and some people may recognize her from her work in the Blue Captain in 2022, which was a critical favorite.
Joseph:In 2019, she made a film called Adam, which was really well regarded as well. It's kind of an interesting film because this filmmaker from Tangier is actually. The film is going to be in Spanish and it's going to have collaborators from Spain. I believe Even the editor from Painting Glory and Parallel Mothers, from Pedrala Dovar, is going to be the editor on this film, kai Malaga, and it's going to star Carmen Moura, and people may recognize Carmen Moura certainly from her brilliant years on screen in Spanish film, but if you're not so familiar with that, you're going to recognize her as the mother from Volver, which got Penelope Cruz her first nomination, and I'm pretty sure that Kaya Malaga is going to feature Carmen Mara in the lead role. So I would keep my eye on this title and on Carmen Mara for the rest of the season.
Joseph:I mean, if this title does well, the idea of Carmen Mara getting nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress because I do believe she's the lead here is just absolute fire. I don't think there's any other way to describe it than that Just absolute fire. She should have been nominated for Support actress for volver. There's really no excuse for that other than, you know, a lack of recognition for her name, sadly, at that time. Um, it was easier to recognize penelope cruz because she had all this crossover sort of uh, success with american titles and, you know, blockbuster titles. But carmen mara is an absolute legend and so watch out for that to be a theme this year. I've mentioned a bunch of actors in contention for that best actor prize in Cannes and possibly going to push that idea of a bid for best actor later on in the year at the Oscars. But Carmen Mara, I think, is an actress that really stands out here.
Joseph:If the film Kaya Malaga is invited into competition. Um, we should talk about the young filmmaker begun, uh, his new film, resurrection. Many of you may recognize him from his work long day's journey into night, which has sort of a cult following. I, I watched it in theaters in 3d. It was a really wonderful film. Um, uh, it's a great experience to see it in theaters with an audience in 3d. I'm not sure you can get that at home. Um, he did go to con, with long day's journey into night, but it was on certain regard, so he hasn't necessarily been invited to competition yet, but long day's journey into night was just such a you know big announcement of the kind of talent he is that you kind of think that he is going to be invited into competition in a matter of time.
Joseph:Um, there's been some rumblings as to whether or not this film incorporates 3d or not. Um, I'm not sure. I don't have I don't have any kind of confirmation on that. It'll be interesting to see if it is announced in competition, if they reveal a little bit of that, of those details. Um, but begun, a kind of filmmaker that's, you know, really open to sort of experimenting with the cinematic form. So I would not be I would not be surprised to see that happen.
Joseph:Um, speaking of best actress, um, I think the lead on this is going to be uh I hope I'm pronouncing this right shu ki, which, um was the lead in the film the assassin in 2015, which is a runaway success at con, and I think she's the lead on this, along with jackson yee from better days. Uh, which I believe was, uh, the nominee for foreign language film from hong kong year. I believe that's true. So both of those faces are going to be familiar to voters and to regular con film festival goers, and I've read online that this has, you know, some feelings or vibes of a thriller and a sci-fi. But you know, as any Beyond movie, I'm sure that at one point it's going to devolve from its own genre and become this sort of just meditative rumbling through time, very much in the vein of what I think the filmmaker likes to do, someone who I think we'll see at the festival in competition, competition.
Joseph:Finally, you know I talk about the idea that the con film festival lineup in competition we're going to have female filmmakers, because they made that wonderful push to be more inclusive. We're going to have french filmmakers right, and I think last year we got a taste of it when we saw michelle has a venusius in competition for an animated title, the most precious cargo which got pushed to this year's animated race, which I think will definitely contend there. But I think this is the opportunity to finally invite Sylvain Chaumet to compete for the competition and compete for the Palme d'Or with the Magnificent Life of Sylvain Pagnol. I also think that, much like the brazilian title I was referring to. I think khan sort of knows what's in the ether and beyond, sort of the crossover global success, oscar success of I'm still here, the huge, huge, uh success that was flow, I think, is going to compel khan to include an animated title within competition this year, and I think that Sylvain Chalamet is the prime contender for that. Remember, flow premiered on a sidebar at the festival and Sylvain has actually never competed, as far as I know.
Joseph:Tributes of Belleville premiered out of competition and it was one of the most well-regarded films that year, in 2003, on its way to two Oscar nominations for song and for animated feature, I think many people felt by the end of the year that it should have been in competition, where it could have competed for more prizes. The Illusionist was actually a premiere of Berlin in 2010, if I'm correct. Illusionist was actually a premiere of berlin in 2010, if I'm correct, and I think it may have bowed in venice out of competition or possibly in a sidebar um or as a special screening, but it was not invited to competition um. This is, of course, based on the life of the famed french playwright, novelist and filmmaker. Even more reason why I think it'll end up being in competition, and this has already been acquired by sony pictureics, who collaborated with Sylvain on both Tributes of Belleville and the illusionist. You know, sony Picture Classics has yet to sort of capitalize on a win for animated feature, although they've competed several years, including for, I think, the Red Turtle, which premiered in Cannes as well. So I think, without exception, magnificent Life of Sylvain Pagnot is going to be at Cannes. It could be out of competition, it could be in a sidebar, but I think that, with last year's decision to include the Most Precious Cargo and the huge appeal of Flow throughout the year after its Cannes debut is going to push Magnificent Life ofVA Pena into competition.
Joseph:Another animated title in competition is a great, great piece of news Talking about French filmmakers, and we've already talked about some female filmmakers. Here's a French female filmmaker and we have the title, I believe, couture, or maybe some people are calling this film stitches, so I'm not sure exactly what the exact title is, and so this is coming from the french filmmaker, uh, alice winnicore, I believe I hope I'm pronouncing that right the parisian um, and so I think, uh, viewers or listeners might know her from, uh, proxima and disorder in in 2015 with Maria Schonartz. She hasn't really gotten a big prime spot at Cannes, but I think this may be a title that's flashy enough to premiere there. I think this is also flashy enough to premiere as a special screening. We'll see what happens. But part of the flashiness here is that Angie Angel Lee is at the center of this film and she's playing sort of a film director who's attending Paris Fashion Week and I think she, you know, crosses paths with a makeup artist and other individuals, maybe a love interest, played by Louis Garel. We'll see what happens. I mean, distribution rights for this film are still up for grabs. Rights for this film are still up for grabs. So if it does premiere, look out for buyers to potentially pick this up. It would be the kind of title that I think makes most sense to premiere at Cannes, considering Paris Fashion Week. The Parisian filmmaker Angie Angel Lee's in it. Variety sort of listed this as a.
Joseph:Maybe I'm not sure this will be competition. I think this may be special screening, but I'm putting it in competition right now mostly because I'm not sure that you can have special screening that includes both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. I think that might be a conflict of interest for the festival. I think it would take away and possibly be yet another thing they have to contend with. So I think they would rather split them up or include one and not include the other, of which I think possibly the Parisian title from Alice Wintercarp may be the better contender here. So we'll see what happens. Could show up in competition, we'll see and distribution's up for grabs. If it ends up being a bit of a charmer, I could see that being picked up really quick.
Joseph:And then there are some titles that I think are worth talking about that, you know, I kind of have had my eye on, because there's been some reports about them being presented at some point during their production or development to potential, I believe, financiers or investors on behalf of Khan. And so I believe these are titles that Khan at the very least believes in, or filmmakers that they believe in, and that, should they sort of wrap up in time and be ready in time, that they would be happy to sort of highlight in one of their sections and possibly even in competition, of course. I think the first one to start with is the Sound System is Down by Ruben Ostlund. This is supposedly still shooting and not ready, although it's been in the works for a while. Most recently, I think, it was announced that they've cast Julie Delpy in a part. We know this film includes Kirsten Dunst and Keanu Reeves. Kirsten Dunst is already going to have a good year with Derek Cainfrance's film Roofman, with Channing Tatum later on.
Joseph:But you know, I think Khan was sort of showing this title or this project to some investors, and so I don't know where exactly they're at. I don't know if it'll be done in time for Khan and at the same time, I'm not going to dismiss the idea that the title is going to be ready at some point this year. It has been a while since we saw Ruben for Triangle of Sadness and the thing about Ruben is sort of like Yorgos. I'm not sure that there's any upside to premiering at Cannes for him anymore, because he's already won the biggest title, the biggest prize, twice with the Square and Tri of sadness. So I think part of me thinks that it would make more sense to have this title premiere in the fall in venice, where he can try to go for the golden line instead. So I'm not dismissing this title is going to be ready for the fall. I don't think it'll be ready for khan. Nor do I think that it would be in his benefit or the title's benefit to compete in con, because it's very unlikely to be able to seriously compete for up for the big prize. Um, we'll see what happens um, and I think it's still shooting um.
Joseph:The other film that was presented, uh by a really a filmmaker further along in their career was Nadav Lapid's latest film yes, um and um. This film, I think, is a little bit about sort of a yes man, um in, in in culture, or sort of this idea of this, this individual who says yes to everything, and I'm sure at some point that's going to be exploited uh within the film, within the plot of the film. Um, nadiv lapid, uh, his last title, ahed's knee, which was wonderful, premiered at con in 2021. If this title is ready, I would not be surprised to see it show up in competition, the title being yes. I think it's going to be a controversial piece. I believe, interestingly enough, that his title Synonyms, which I believe, won the biggest prize in Berlin that year.
Joseph:The awards were presided by Julia Binoche.
Joseph:Don't quote me on that, but I think that may be the case, and Julia Binoche is the president again, and so she may like Nadeev's work, and so we may end up seeing Nadeev Lapid here, for yes, shi Hayakawa from Japan has a film called Renoir, and her previous film, plan 75, premiered at Cannes 2022 on the Uncertain Regards section.
Joseph:I think it was really well acclaimed and this is kind of an interesting project that'll also include the actor Lily Franke, who I believe was in both Like Father, like Son and Shoplifters, both of which played Cannes. I think that what the sort of Cann con committee has seen of this title has them up on it, um, because they're presenting it alongside. You know, film titles as big as the sound system is down and yes, um, and shihayakawa has not been invited to competition yet, but this may be the title that gets her there, um. Another film that was presented alongside those films was, for example, hotspot by Agnieszka Smoczniska. I hope I'm saying that right. She's a wonderful filmmaker. The filmmaker from the Lore is a very popular title here in the States Polish filmmaker title here in the States, polish filmmaker, and I believe that this film has Nomi Rapace in a significant role.
Joseph:It also has the actress Rika Krishima, who played the wife in Drive my Car. I know that Focus Features is on this for the worldwide distribution. I think the film has elements of science fiction in it and is going to deal with the topic of AI, which is extremely topical right now. So watch out for the hotspot to possibly snag a spot in a competition. A film called Death has no Master by the Venezuelan filmmaker Jorge T Elena Armand, who last presented, I think, la Soledad, not in Cannes, but maybe Venice or Berlin, I'm not quite sure, but it did really well. The Venezuelan film La Soledad, and this film, his latest one, death has no Master, is going to feature Paz Vega, which has had some crossover success here in the United States, I think, most recently coming off her own directorial debut, and so, again, just interesting to see the sound system is down and, yes, these two really established filmmakers being presented alongside these up and coming filmmakers who haven't had a chance to get into competition yet. I think it kind of shows that, you know, I think Khan was showing the projects to investors that they're most excited about and they think are most in need of support and would benefit most of the support and projects that investors are going to be really happy to have been involved with, and so I think that's really significant. So look out for that title as well. Another one is Un Anno di Scuola by the Italian filmmaker Laura Samani, and her film Small Body was in Critics Week in 2021. If they want to, you know, keep inviting female filmmakers again. Look for Shi Hayakawa and Laura Samani, from Japan and Italy respectively, to possibly break into competition or into higher sections of sidebar possibly. A HESA 85 is by the Romanian filmmaker Teodora Ana Mihai, and she directed La Civil from 2021, which premiered on Certain Regard. Again, that idea of sort of promoting these filmmakers to the next level of competition or possibly, in the case of, for example, renoir, finally into competition.
Joseph:Um and uh, the meltdown is from the chilean filmmaker, manuela martelli. Uh, and this is her follow-up, I believe, to chile 76, which was a really great film. Um, that was even nominated at the director's guild award for Best First-Time Filmmaker. So she has a very, very bright career, and so we may end up seeing that possibly on one of the sidebars. And I think the last title they presented was a film called Heads or Tails.
Joseph:That's the English title and this is by a team of filmmakers, a group of filmmakers, a duo, alessio Rigo de Rigi and Matteo Zappos. I hope I'm pronouncing that right, but they made the wonderful film the Tale of King Crab, which I believe was in a sidebar at Cannes. This is their follow-up and I hear that this is sort of a, you know, spaghetti western inspired kind of film. They're really interesting filmmakers, very visual filmmakers. So, again, I expect some of these titles to show up, if not in competition, in other sidebar competitions if they are ready.
Joseph:But I do think it's significant that all of these titles and all of these filmmakers are being presented alongside Nadeem Lapid, for yes, and Ruben Oslund's the Sound System is Down. It just shows you that Cannes is high on each of these projects and high on participating and supporting and gaining support for each of these projects or less the big titles that I think we'll be seeing at the Cannes Film Festival, possibly in the announcement. And then I'm going to end our show before possibly a final predict section at the end, if we haven't run too long on, just the wildcard section, okay, and I'm calling this the wildcard section a lot like our previous episode, because these are titles that have been sort of pegged as to not going, and I'm going to call into question whether that's the case and whether that's smart, whether that's a smart choice on behalf of the studios and whoever's campaigning the films and the outlets who have sort of dismissed that they're going to show up.
Joseph:Let's start with the Way of the Wind from Terrence Malick. Right, terrence Malick hasn't had a film debut in some time. The last one I think I hit in life was AdCon. There have been rumblings that the film has already been screening. Variety listed this as a maybe. I'm thinking that this would be where Terrence Malick would want to debut the film. Again, it's been screening and I do know that it does already have a German distributor. I don't know how long it's had that distributor, but I also know that I think studio Babelsberg from Germany has also been involved in the production, and so I think the German distributor has the release date listed as 2025. So I think the German distributor has the release date listed as 2025. So I think you know there may be some intel on behalf of Germany, who you know participate in the production, as to if the film is ready or not. And if that's the case and it has been screening I think there's a very good chance that we may end up seeing the way of the wind from Terrence Malick in competition. Competition, of course, this is Terrence Malick's sort of take, and I say that loosely, because we never know what to expect from a Terrence Malick film, except a good one about, you know, sort of the life of Jesus Christ, and it's going to have Giza Roerig in it, who is a wonderful actor that most people are going to recognize from his work in Son of Saul, which premiered at Cannes and was one of the standout titles in 2015. And so watch out for the way of the wind. I think it shouldn't be dismissed After the Hunt by Luca Guadagnino, variety has this listed as a maybe I think everyone is pretty confident that the project is pretty much complete at this point.
Joseph:It's really a choice as to whether or not they want to premiere at Cannes. Luca has had a lot more success right now, debuting in Venice. His films have been well-received. Of course, the Italian filmmaker maybe has a preference to go to Venice At the same time as I've been speaking about some of the other filmmakers. Maybe the best thing he can do for his career is possibly, you know, take a break and take his next title to Cannes instead. I do find it interesting that Challengers never ended up going to the Cannes Film Festival when it had an opportunity to, and I wonder if it would not have had more success had it done so.
Joseph:Interestingly enough, also an Amazon MGM film, and I'm not sure if Amazon MGM is sort of revising that strategy now or doubling down on it and saying, no, I don't want to send the Guadagnino film to Cannes. Of course this film starts Julia Roberts, andrew Garfield, aida Berry, chloe Sevigny, michael Stolberg, which is a Luca Guadagnino mainstay. Amazon MGM are behind this, but they're also partnering with Imagine Entertainment on the production side. Brian Grazer is a producer on this. Hasn't really worked with Guadagnino before. It's interesting to see him work with other filmmakers aside from Ron Howard. From Ron Howard We'll see if that's going to be a plus to the project, an advantage the project has, and maybe being more widely embraced by Academy members, academy voters, oscar voters, some of Luca Guadagnino's key collaborators coming back on this, including Marco Costa, who was sort of the runaway editor that everyone really loved his work last year in Challengers especially, but he did a great job on Queer, but on Challengers he even got the ace nomination.
Joseph:The DP on this is actually the DP from Black is King and Lemonade, most recently the work from Beyonce. But he also worked with Spike Lee on his, his early work, and on he Got Game, from 98 I believe, and the film is shot in the UK. Uh, julia Roberts has been a little bit of a darling of France lately, um, so this might be a reason why she wants to take the film to Cannes again. I do think that we have a little bit of that conflict here between you know, spotlighting the Angelina Jolie, alice Win Winnicott film in Cannes and then possibly spotlighting the Julia Roberts film in Cannes or the Brad Pitt film in Cannes. I'm not sure how serious those things are, but you know it's a small world. So I wouldn't doubt that that comes a little bit into the decision making as to who they're going to invite, how and when. So I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility that after the hunt shows up, but I'm not positive that that's what's going to happen. You know, some people have been talking about this project, as you know, a riff on tar, and if that's the case and again I'm not saying that it is if that's the case, maybe it would prefer con saying that it is. If that's the case, maybe it would prefer Khan, because Tar was so well or so beloved at Venice, and maybe that's not necessarily where they want to, you know, plant that flag.
Joseph:Another title that I think sort of runs into a similar problem I've been talking about with Emma Stone and Josh O'Connor, but sort of more on the thematic side, is Caught Stealing by Darren Aronofsky. Again, most recently he was at Venice, which some people quoted him as not necessarily being his festival of choice, possibly after Mother, but the Whale premiered there didn't necessarily do great, maybe a polarizing reaction, but it eventually got Brendan Fraser that Oscar nomination and that Oscar win and brought Darren Aronofsky back to the Oscars. The thing about Caught Stealing and why I'm including it here in the wildcard section is because I think there's a title that really competes for attention against it and that's roof man, derrick from derrick kane, france with channing tatum. There's something about both of those titles that I think it's going to be awkward to have them premiere at the same time. Um, they sort of, I think, cannibalize each other and I think the thematic material, possibly that's that's what my, my gut says as, as two american titles, um, I think you know this film includes austin butler, uh, vincent d'onofrio, zoe kravitz, matt smith, regina king, um, you have uh, aronofsky collaborators mattie lubetique is on this, um, andrew weisblum, the editor, uh, nominated for black swan and tick tick Boom.
Joseph:You have a sound designer from Roma on this as well, and Sony Pictures will be releasing this, which is kind of an interesting move for a Darren Aronofsky film. I think this is based on a novel, if I'm not mistaken, and so I think they want this to be a bigger sort of hit, a bigger sort of more wide, appealing film that's coming out on August 29th.
Joseph:It's not the best date for other festivals.
Joseph:If you look at that date of August 29th, it sort of runs two days after the start of Venice, right, which is August 27th. So if they have an early bow at Venice and then go wide in theaters, they better have, you know, gold at Venice, because if it's a polarizing title at Venice they're just going to end up losing money. I think on the release. And same thing with Telluride the August 29th release, wide release for Cot Stealing is sort of in line with the August 29th start of the Telluride Film Festival. And so I just think that if you're going to show caught stealing on those dates in the middle or two days into Venice at the start of Telluride, you kind of understand that you're very confident the piece is going to play well to critics and that you'll be able to capitalize on that. That's my feeling at least. And then you're going to be able to have a moment at each of those festivals where you know we're quickly going to go from the premiere August 29th, if it's selected in Venice, to more competition titles the 30th. So we're going to have brand new films. If it premieres August 29th at Telluride, on August 30th you're going to have brand new films, and so the only way it could really stand out after those new competition titles, sort of premiere, and have a reaction from critics and from audiences is to make money on August 29th, which is what it's going to need to do, I think, to further its chances at getting an Iron for any kind of Academy Award, to further its chances at getting nine for any kind of academy award, um, and it's going to be hard for it to make money if those first reactions are sort of on the polarizing side or the negative side. I'm not sure that on paper this is, you know, the the easiest or most baity sell to oscar voters from what I know about the project. But I do know that it is a very splashy project, a very attention-calling project, and because of that I would not be surprised if they want to have a moment in Cannes as opposed to at Venice.
Joseph:There's also something about the whole title and even the release date that really plays to me as like an end-of-summer film, and as an end-of-summer film I feel like Cannes is the summer festival. I almost feel like the festivals of Venice and Telluride are almost the announcement of okay, well, the fall has arrived in terms of movies, and there's something about caught stealing that I think it could sort of steal some of the coattails of the summer money right that has been going on with these bigger blockbusters and as we enter the dog days of summer, little by little that money starts diminishing. But they might be able to really capitalize on, like the last little bits of money that the summer audiences are willing to spend to go watch a movie, and this very much, I think, sort of in the vein of a thriller that could possibly be as appealing as something like the Town, for example, to mass audiences. And so, because of that idea that it's going to go for some of that summer money, I feel like Cannes would be the best place for it to show up. You know, you look at a movie like Roofman which again, I thought that thematically there's a lot of crossover and could compete with this title. I think Roofman already is dated for Octoberober and I think that they're not going to get that quote-unquote summer money, that splashy premiere that that uh cod stealing could actually get, um, you know, with austin butler headlining it and his face on the poster or what have you, um, and certainly something like one battle after another right which has been moved out of summer and um into september, which is it's going to be a little late certainly late for it to get any of that summer money. Now they're going to really try to capitalize on that IMAX release idea and my last pitch for a wild card that we may see at the festival in special screening or competition is actually going to be the Australian title Bring Her Back by the Philippal Brothers. The release date from 8-24 is slated for May 30th, which makes a lot of sense with the festival. Sally Hawkins is in this.
Joseph:Everyone knows that the Philippal Brothers had a lot of success with their previous title Talk to me. I think A24 is really high on delivering another summer hit from them. But I also think I don't have a lot of Australian titles that are catching my eye right now and that might be a way to both have a summer blockbuster title and make their competition lineup more international, possibly a little bit younger and possibly a little bit more genre. And so I'm not disqualifying the idea that A24, if they can't get highest to lowest in competition, if they don't have a title that they're really chomping on the bit to buy, if they feel like Eddington is not going to play well at the festival, that a more populist genre film, the sophomore effort from the Philippal brothers, might be a better fit, either in competition or out of competition. So bring her back is something that I'm definitely I have my eye on as possibly crashing this announcement on Thursday.
Joseph:All right, and with that, maybe I'll reveal what I'm predicting for tomorrow's in competition lineup. Keep in mind, the competition title should be somewhere between 21 to 24 titles, I believe last year we had 22. In 2023, we had 21 titles, but in the year 2021, we had as many as 24 titles. So I think I'm just going to go ahead and predict 22 titles that I think have the best chance of getting into that lineup, based on what I've shared and I'll include one spoiler, and so I'm thinking it's going to go something like this, in alphabetical order, we should see Alpha, kaya, malaga.
Joseph:Die my Love. The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele Eddington. The Magnificent Life of Sylvain Pagnol. The Mastermind. Mother, father, sister, brother, no Other Choice. Nouvelle Vague, the Phoenician Scheme, the way of the wind yes, young mothers.
Joseph:And finally, looking over my list, I was very unhappy with the idea that I didn't have any title representing italy, um, and the only one that I could really come up with that was really tempting for me to put in was the title that I spoke about before Heads or Tails, by that duo of filmmakers, alessio Rigo the Reggie and Matteo Zoppas. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. They made a wonderful film and I think that this film again sort of spaghetti Western vibes I'm getting from it about Buffalo Bill, john C Reilly's even in this film. So I'm thinking that that's the only Italian title that I feel really compelled to include. So I'll have that as my 22nd.
Joseph:And if I had to put a spoiler, a 23rd title, I'm going to go back and say that I think the recipe for success for this film is contingent upon its premiere in Cannes, and I think that's one battle after another. I think that the place for it to go is a summer premiere, not a fall premiere, followed by a fall release. I think it should be a summer premiere and then a fall release. So one battle after another is my spoiler. So not predicting it to show up, but if it does show up I would not be surprised. All right, well, that concludes this special report from Academy Anonymous. Tune in as we cover the lineup in the episodes forthcoming, when Jules will be at my side again and we'll run down what the selection is, what it means, who to keep an eye out on and how many of my predictions I ended up getting right. Until then, thank you for joining me. This has been a fantastic episode. I will speak to you guys next time.
Speaker 2:This is Joseph and you've been listening to Academy Anonymous. The music on this episode entitled Cool Cats was graciously provided by Kevin MacLeod and Incompetechcom Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0. Http//creativecommonsorg Licenses by 3.0.
Joseph:Disclaimer the Academy Anonymous podcast is in no way affiliated or endorsed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.