Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or 2014 Predictions Day 6: Is Steve Carell's 'Foxcatcher' the Favorite to Win Award?
The sixth day of the Cannes Film Festival saw the premiere of the highly anticipated new film "Foxcatcher."
After a number of delays, the Bennett Miller drama made its world premiere to rave reviews. The film, which stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, had one of the best openings at Cannes this year. Critics raved about Carell's performance, and many hailed Carell as an Oscar lock. Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter praised the movie and wrote, "A superbly modulated study of a twisted mind with a career-changing performance by Steve Carell." Variety's Justin Chang wrote, "Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum give superb performances in Bennett Miller's powerfully disturbing true-crime saga."
Ever since the festival opened, not many films have generated the amount of Oscar buzz that "Foxcatcher" generated after the premiere. As a matter of fact, many films that entered with buzz lost a lot of steam, including "Grace of Monaco," "The Homesman" and "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby." However, "Foxcatcher" still has a long way to go in order to get nominations in January. Carell could seal the deal if he wins the Best Actor prize at the festival as Bruce Dern, Javier Bardem, Christoph Waltz and Jean DuJardin did before getting nominated for Oscars. The drama will also have to be present in the fall festival circuit if it is to survive. Last year, "Inside Llewyn Davis" skipped out on Toronto International Film Festival, and that ultimately hurt the movie's Oscar campaign. If "Foxcatcher" wins the Palme D'Or, it could also have an easier chance of getting Oscar nominations. In the end Miller's movie will be going out of the festival with superb buzz, and with Sony Pictures Classics releasing it on Nov. 17, the film will be present throughout the year.
In the market, Weinstein Co. bought the rights for yet another movie. This time the company obtained the rights for "Lion" by Garth Davis. The film will be an adaptation of Saroo Brierley's book "A Long Way Home." The movie was acquired for $12 million after a fierce bidding war between TWC and Fox Searchlight. The movie will be produced by "The King's Speech" producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. "Lion" marks the second largest acquisition of the festival after Paramount's "Story of Your Life." It also marks the latest in a long list of films the company has acquired throughout the festival. Weinstein Co. has already gotten the rights to "The Coup" and "Sing Street" and is looking to obtain rights for Michel Hazanavicius' "The Search." "Lion" is set to start production in August.
The Maria Callas biopic "Callas" also found a production company to produce the film. Belladonna Films ("Transamerica" and "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints") and Eclectic Vision have boarded the project, which is slated to be written and directed by Niki Caro. "Callas" will be centered on the world famous singer's tragic relationship with Aristotle Onassis. The movie is slated to begin production this fall with casting soon to be announced. The movie has been in pre-production for a number of years and once had Eva Green on board for the role. However the film's financing fell through. The soprano has been played by a number of actresses, including Fanny Ardant in "Callas Forever," which was directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and was recently played by Paz Vegas in "Grace of Monaco," which premiered on opening night of Cannes.
Millennium Entertainment acquired the Sylvester Stallone and Kyra Sedgwick picture "Reach Me." The movie, which is directed by John Herzfeld, used Indiegogo to finish the movie and is now slated to be released in theaters and on demand on Oct. 24. Millennium has long been committed to releasing movies with well-known actors and has had huge success with films, such as "Bernie, "Fading Gigolo" and "What Maisie Knew."
Meanwhile, Adrien Brody launched Fable House, a production company that has $50 million to finance and develop films for the Chinese and International marketplace. The company already has a number of pictures on its slate including "Manhattan Nocturne," which Brody is set to star in. Paradigm pictures will represent the movie at Cannes where it hopes to sell the picture in the upcoming days. Brian Decubellis will direct the drama and will begin production in the fall."