I meant to get to this earlier, but sometimes, you know, real life gets in the way. Anyway, the big news of the day is that The Weinstein Company has snapped up the U.S. distribution rights to Tom Ford’s stunning debut “A Single Man,” with plans for a 2009 Oscar-qualifying run, marking the first really newsworthy deal of the Toronto fest.
This is just the kind of fate I hoped might await the film when I saw it last week at the Venice Film Festival. It’s a delicate, esoteric piece that needs the attentive handling of a smaller outfit — but, at the same time, has significant, clearly designated awards prospects that need some savvy campaigning to help realize. I can’t see a better fit for this film than the Weinsteins, frankly.
The long and short of it is that you can firmly pencil Colin Firth in on your list of Best Actor prospects. It’s a prominent, immensely moving performance that, following his recent win in Venice, should gain critical traction in what looks like an unusually lean field so far. Add the fact that Firth is a popular, well-established star still looking for his defining career role — for critics, at least; for the female public, he’ll always be Mr. Darcy — and the Weinsteins’ campaigning muscle, and he’s firmly in the mix.
The film, meanwhile, has to be considered for a number of technical citations: Arianne Phillips’ costumes are immaculate, and the designer — a three-time Guild nominee and Oscar nominee for “Walk the Line” — has a strong track record. The cinematography and production design (from Dan Bishop of “Mad Men” fame) are no less accomplished and deserving. And Abel Korzeniowski’s is the best of the year so far. Something to consider.
From Variety:
At the fete, there was hope in the air that “Single” might break the dealmaking logjam and prod distributors to begin locking in distribution deals for a slew of available films with strong casts that are unspooling at the fest. There had been no major showdown over a pic until Ford’s debut arrived Monday … TWC plans to release the film in a limited run to qualify it for the Academy Awards. Pic will then go out wider in early 2010.
Seriously, watch this one. My review here.
Comments
18 responses to “Weinsteins grab ‘A Single Man’”
I wonder if this means Julianne Moore can also be a legitimate contender for supporting actress ?
A long shot, I’d say. I like the performance, but as I’ve said before, the Academy tends to like their cameos showier.
it’s a cameo? wow. She’s all over the trailer
Hate to go off-topic, but since you’re strongly backing Colin Firth for Best Actor, has John Malkovich completely fallen off the radar for Disgrace? It opens in limited release this weekend and reviews have been positive.
What’s your take?
Robert: Wonderful film, wonderful performance. And newcomer Jessica Haines is a revelation. Short Take coming before Friday.
JAB: An extended cameo, to be fair. But it’s essentially a one-sequence role.
Might Firth be the lone first-time nominee in a field including 4 previous winners? Duvall, Day-Lewis, Clooney, and Freeman all seem like logical front runners (if Duvall’s pic gets a distributor).
I am very happy about this.
I am a Moore fan and I’d like her to get more nominations but he choices show that she doesn’t care that much. She just wants to be in films she considers interesting.
Cool news. What’s the prospect of the other actors involved in the film ((not named Firth and Moore) getting some award attention?
Roger Friedman seems to think she’ll be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Harvey must have been feeding him inside information.
The Weinsteins recently took Cate Blanchett’s Venice win for I’m Not There and turned it to an Oscar nom. I only hope this means I get to see the movie soon. Nine better do well so they can keep taking risks such as this one.
I don’t think he had much to do with that Oscar nom. Her performance was brilliant – a nomination was inevitable. If he did his job properly, he could have turned it into a win.
Ryan: No chance whatsoever, I think, though Nicholas Hoult is very good.
As for Moore, if Harvey really does decide to push her, it could happen, but it’s not a slam-dunk, “look at me” showcase of a performance.
Firth will be their top priority from the film, and rightly so (just as Blanchett was from “I’m Not There”). The biggest obstacle at this point will be getting voters to see a film that is both unabashedly arthouse, and homoerotic to boot.
For some reason, I don’t like Cate Blanchett. Though she did have a good performance in Elizabeth. I would have given the Oscar that year to Streep. But if I had to pick either Elizabeth or Aviator to give her an Oscar for, I’d pick Elizabeth and give Natalie Portman in Closer a win.
For a date, I’m guessing a limited qualifying run in the second half of December, since the big-ticket Nine & Road are scheduled for November.
PS Oh, I didn’t know Ben Whishaw was a Bob Dylan in that movie too.
Wow, I looked up the supporting actress awards for that year. One each among Globes, Sags, Baftas, and BFCA (the 5th nominee being one of this year’s big question marks, in terms of both performance and whether it’ll be lead or supporting from what I’ve heard, young Ronan. Looking at the 10 youngest nominees, the vast majority never had another accolade-d role. With the obvs exception of Jodie Foster, but it was a dozen years later, not two). Though only Tilda & Cate were nommed for all.
Last thing. Still tangential to my comment and not the actual post.
I didn’t know that Abbie Cornish was to be an older version of Saoirse Ronan in Atonement but had obligations to another film Cate Blanchett got nommed for, the Elizabeth sequel. I wonder if that would have been her breakout role, though I suppose it would have been hard to push four different actresses (I do wonder if the Weinsteins will ignore half of Nine’s cast.). Also, interesting that two actresses who almost played the same role in the same film are now likely competitors.
Cate Blanchett is, simply put, the best actress out there today.
I’d be tempted to say “best actor,” period.
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