Just as soon as the first trailer for Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher“ dropped last fall, it was promptly yanked offline, and the scheduled December 20th release date taken off the calendar. Was this the case of a troubled production? The official line was that the director wanted more time to finish the movie, and whatever went on behind-the-scenes, it looks like everyone involved is pleased with the result because this one is headed for the biggest film party of them all.
A movie we’re already putting in the mix as a Best Picture contender this year, HitFix confirms that “Foxcatcher” is headed to the Cannes Film Festival where it will make its world premiere. There’s no word yet on which program it will screen, but we’d be really surprised if it wasn’t in Competition, even if it’s Miller’s first time on the Croisette. The starry cast (Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller), dramatic material, not to mention the pull of Sony Pictures Classics behind the movie, pretty much make it an irresistible option for programmers.
To refresh your memory, the film tells the tale of John du Pont, a multimillionaire, paranoid schizophrenic, who builds a wrestling training facility on his 800-acre property, and his relationship with longtime friend and Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz, that takes a sinister turn. Again, fascinating stuff, but what does this mean in terms of awards contention?
It’s hard to say. While “The Artist” benefited from a Cannes premiere and subsequent buzz that followed, one only has to look at last year’s “Inside Llewyn Davis” as an example of a very well regarded movie that unspooled in the south of France, but couldn’t do anything to make headway into the Oscar race.”Foxcatcher” is an even darker tale, but if the reviews are strong and the performances top shelf it could be in the game. But it’s always a tough task to keep a movie fresh for eight months until the nominations are announced.
Either way, “Foxcatcher” is coming. No release date yet, but we presume you should keep an eye out for it this fall. Want to know what else is headed to Cannes? See our list of movies we expected to walk the red carpet.