Film Described As “A Very Serious Oscar Contender”
With the Cannes Film Festival lineup more or less set — there will likely be a few more film announcements in the next couple of weeks as is usually the case — the organizers at the Venice, Toronto, Telluride and other fall film festivals have already been making calls to try and get big-ticket films slotted into their festivals. Among the numerous high-profile films talked about as possibilities for Cannes was Tomas Alfredson‘s highly anticipated “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Before the lineup for Cannes was announced, reports circulated that it wasn’t likely to make it as the film was still in the midst of post-production. As expected, a fall premiere is in the works and at least one major film festival has already come calling at least a month ago to land the film.
In an interview with RBR last month (that we stumbled across recently), producer and radio personality Doug Urbanski spilled on the status of the film and when we might get to see it. “We’re in post-production. We’ve been invited to open the Venice Film Festival. We’ll be releasing in the U.K. probably in September. Then we’ll probably release in America in October or November,” he said, before adding one more exciting bit of info: “All of these things will be decided in the next two weeks but I would think that we have a very serious Oscar contender for next year.”
And that awards season talk isn’t too surprising given the talent and source material involved. Featuring a phenomenal cast made up of Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds, Mark Strong, Svetlana Khodchenko, Toby Jones, John Hurt, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke, the film is an adaptation of John Le Carre‘s classic spy thriller. Adapted for the screen by the talented Peter Morgan (”The Queen,” “Frost/Nixon”) the story follows a British Intelligence operative whose task is to delve into the world of Cold War espionage and root out a Soviet mole in the Circus, the highest echelon in the British Intelligence Services.
Well, a few weeks have come and gone since this interview and if Urbanski has agreed to take the film to Venice, we likely won’t know for a couple of months, until it’s formally announced. However, kicking off one of the biggest festivals of the year is a rare opportunity and we’d guess there’s a strong possibility of it happening. But for those of us who can’t make it Venice, we’d wager a North American premiere will likely be in the works at either Telluride or TIFF. And we wouldn’t be too surprised if those calls have already been placed. While the Cannes Film Festival may already be boasting a great lineup, just remember, there are still even more great films to come and 2011 is shaping up to be one helluva moviegoing year. And with early talk of Oscars our excitement for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” which was already high, has pretty much been pushed over the top.