Deadline Hollywood - Contenders Film: New York - 12/01/18

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Morni ng P re s e n t a t i on s WALT DISNEY STUDIOS 10:05am – 10:25am

Mary Poppins Returns

Rob Marshall (Director/Producer/Writer) Emily Blunt (Actor) Lin-Manuel Miranda (Actor) Ben Whishaw (Actor) Emily Mortimer (Actor)

Pixar’s Incredibles 2

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Ben is Back

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First Man

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First Reformed

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Mid90s

Jonah Hill (Director/Producer/Writer)

A Private War

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Crazy Rich Asians

Michelle Yeoh (Actor) Ken Jeong (Actor)

Private Life

Tamara Jenkins (Director/Producer/Writer) Kathryn Hahn (Actor) Paul Giamatti (Actor) Kayli Carter (Actor)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Zoe Kazan (Actor) Bill Heck (Actor) Jess Gonchor (Production Designer)

The Kindergarten Teacher

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Af terno o n P re s e n t a t i on s ANNAPURNA PICTURES 2:30pm – 2:40pm

If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins (Director/Writer) KiKi Layne (Actress) Stephan James (Actor) Nicholas Britell (Composer)

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES 2:43pm – 2:53pm

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Marielle Heller (Director) Anne Carey (Producer) Amy Nauiokas (Producer) Anne McCabe (Editor)

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Disobedience

Alessandro Nivola (Actor)

Leave No Trace

Debra Granik (Director/Writer) Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Actor)

Vox Lux

Brady Corbet (Director/Writer)

Three Identical Strangers

Tim Wardle (Director) David Kellman (Contributor) Robert Shafran (Contributor)

The Hate U Give

Amandla Stenberg (Actor) Russell Hornsby (Actor)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Rami Malek (Actor)

NEON 3:19pm – 3:39pm

20TH CENTURY FOX 3:42pm – 4:02pm

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Meet The Contenders From blockbusters to indies, and everything in between, the road to awards season begins here BY PETE HAMMOND

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN NEW YORK CITY,

we present what has become the award season’s premier attraction—a one-day event showcasing all the year’s key hopefuls in cinema.

Originally inspired by the popular and influential TED Talks, The Contenders offers each studio and distributor anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes (depending on their output) to put their best foot forward and present what they believe will be movies worthy of awards consideration. In front of an invited audience of AMPAS voters

and other key guild members, the best of the best are unveiled in a one-stop-shop that allows NYC industry members to see movie clips and hear top actors and filmmakers discussing their latest work. The idea is to help voters parse out what they want to see— and what they need to see—from that daunting pile of screeners that arrives every year.

In this full-day event, at the DGA, voters will have to chance to sample the movies that will be making the most noise all the way

up to the Oscars at the end of the February. This is where it all starts, and we’re proud to say that The Contenders has been so successful that we recently held our second annual sister event in London and did our eighth consecutive Contenders event in LA, the place where the idea all started and has thrived each year, growing in size and status as a must for voters.

This year we are thrilled to add the energy and excitement of New York to this popular concept and can’t wait to bring it to the Big Apple. It promises to be a tremendous day, complete with a breakfast sponsored by Amazon Studios, a lunch sponsored

by Netflix, and a closing cocktail reception sponsored by 20th Century Fox. In between these networking opportunities, our audience will be treated to quite

a show on stage, along with a few exciting raffles.

Those who attended last year in LA and London will recall seeing many 2017 Oscar winners first at The Contenders, including Guillermo del Toro, Best Picture and Director winner for The Shape of Water; Gary Oldman, Best Actor winner for Darkest Hour; Sam Rockwell, Best Supporting Actor for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and Allison Janney, Best Supporting Actress winner for I, Tonya.

Among the films in the 2018 lineup are Walt Disney Studios with Mary Poppins Returns and Pixar’s Incredibles 2; Roadside Attractions LD Entertainment’s Ben Is Back; Universal Pictures’ First Man and Green Book; Focus Features’ BlacKkKlansman; A24’s First Reformed and Mid90s; Aviron’s A Private War;

REX /S H UT T ERSTOC K

ROCKING IT Rami Malek discusses Bohemian Rhapsody at The Contenders LA.

Warner Bros.’ A Star is Born and Crazy Rich Asians; Netflix’s Private Life, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and The Kindergarten Teacher; Annapurna Pictures’ If Beale Street Could Talk; Fox Searchlight’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Bleecker Street’s Disobedience and Leave No Trace; NEON’s Vox Lux and Three Identical Strangers; and 20th Century Fox’s The Hate U Give and Bohemian Rhapsody.

The formidable talent list grows right up to press time and beyond, but—subject to change—you can count on seeing many stars, including Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Lucas Hedges, John David Washington, Ethan Hawke, Rosamund Pike, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Jeong, Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Kayli Carter, Zoe Kazan, Bill Heck, Maggie Gyllenhaal, KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Alessandro Nivola, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Amandla Stenberg, Russell Hornsby, and Rami Malek.

And that’s just the acting talent.

Among the filmmakers we have are Rob Marshall, Brad Bird, Peter Hedges, Peter Farrelly, Spike Lee, Paul Schrader, Jonah Hill, Matthew Heineman, Tamara Jenkins, Barry Jenkins, Marielle Heller, Debra Granik, Brady Corbet, and Tim Wardle— plus many other Oscar-winning and nominated film artists.

So prepare to dive in and see what award season has in store.

Enjoy Deadline’s The Contenders New York! ★

Bradley Cooper

Armie Hammer and Felicity Jones

Toni Collette

Michael B. Jordan

Jamie Dornan

Elizabeth Debicki

The Contenders LA NOVEMBER 3, LOS ANGELES The stars gather for the event that started it all.

See more photos at Deadline.com Nicole Kidman

REX /S H UT T ERSTOC K

Amy Adams

Sandra Bullock

Natalie Portman

Mahershala Ali, Peter Farrelly and Viggo Mortensen

John C. Reilly

Joanna Kulig

Willem Dafoe

The Films

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS Mary Poppins Returns After 54 years, P.L. Travers’ magical nanny glides back into London for the sequel to a 1964 classic—a return to the lives of the (nowgrown) Banks children, at their house on Cherry Tree Lane. Picking up Julie Andrews’ iconic umbrella is Emily Blunt, who helps Michael (Ben Whishaw) through a difficult time in his life, while introducing a new generation of children to the wonders of the imagination. Featuring an original score and nine new musical numbers, the sequel also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep, with appearances from two Disney icons—Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke.

Pixar’s Incredibles 2 The second highest grossing animated film of all time, Brad Bird’s Pixar return arrives 14 years after the Oscar-winning original, picking up exactly where The Incredibles left off. Seeking to restore the world’s trust in superheroes, Bob and Helen Parr face off against a new foe, while coming to grips with infant Jack-Jack’s mystifying powers.

Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and

Samuel L. Jackson reprise their roles, with exciting newcomers in Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Jonathan Banks.

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS / LD ENTERTAINMENT Ben is Back Father-and-son duo Peter and Lucas Hedges deliver a harrowing drama in their first major collaboration. Disguised as a conventional family affair, the thriller follows Ben, a drug addict who leaves rehab, showing up at his family’s doorstep on Christmas Eve. Welcoming her son home for the holidays, mother Holly (Julia Roberts) is deeply concerned, monitoring him constantly and coming to realize that she can’t save him. At the end of the day, Ben will save himself, or no one will. Debuting next week, the film also stars Kathryn Newton and Courtney B. Vance.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES First Man Making Oscar history with La La Land as the youngest winner of the Best Director prize, Damien Chazelle shoots for the moon once again—this time literally— reteaming with Ryan Gosling to

chart the trajectory and psychology of astronaut Neil Armstrong, from his entry into NASA’s training program to his first steps on the moon in 1969. The most visceral account to date of the pioneering space traveler’s experience, the Josh Singer-scripted film is as emotional as it is physical, exploring the profound sense of grief felt by Armstrong and wife Janet (Claire Foy) after the loss of their young daughter.

Green Book Comedy veteran Peter Farrelly’s first venture into drama tells the powerful true story of AfricanAmerican jazz pianist Don Shirley (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali), who hires an Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) as his driver on a tour of venues through the racist ’60s South. The feelgood road movie is an exceedingly personal project for co-writer Nick Vallelonga—Tony Lip’s son—who began recording his father 20 years ago, realizing his stories would make a great film. It won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Brian Currie produces, along with Farrelly and Vallelonga.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

FIRST MAN

BEN IS BACK

BLACKKKLANSMAN

FOCUS FEATURES BlacKkKlansman Spike Lee’s new film won the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix, with strong notices for star John David Washington.

Based on a 2014 memoir by Ron Stallworth—the first AfricanAmerican police officer in the Colorado Springs bureau—it tells the shocking true story of his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan.

Featuring supporting performances by Adam Driver and Topher Grace—who plays white supremacist David Duke—the film opened on the one-year an-

niversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, dissecting the frightening state of American race relations, while drawing links between the world of the ’70s and that of today.

A24 First Reformed Written and directed by Paul Schrader—with a voice and themes reminiscent of his iconic Taxi Driver—this mystery-tinged thriller has been a favorite among critics and indie audiences alike. Ethan Hawke stars as Revered Toller, the pastor of

a historic New York church who grapples with crushing despair, the product of his past, along with the chaos and tragedy of contemporary life, in a world that is out of control. Produced by Killer Films, the film premiered in Venice last year, amassing nominations at the Gotham Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Mid90s The directorial debut of Jonah Hill, this intimate and personal drama is set in a gritty Los Angeles of the titular time period. The

FIRST REFORMED

A PRIVATE WAR

focal point is Stevie (breakout talent Sunny Suljic), a 13-yearold growing up in a troubled home, with a violent bully of a brother (Lucas Hedges) and a romantically entangled mother (Katherine Waterston). Searching for somewhere to belong, the boy finds a ragtag group of pals who accept him as one of their own in Motor Avenue skate shop, and place him in increasingly scary situations.

AVIRON PICTURES A Private War A fearless war correspondent for The Sunday Times who sustained severe damage to her body and psyche in her mission to bring global conflicts to light, Marie Colvin’s story finally gets the feature treatment courtesy of Oscar-nominated documentarian Matthew Heineman and

A STAR IS BORN

actress Rosamund Pike. The film captures the terrifying reality of the work Colvin did, which led to her death while covering the Syrian Civil War. With notable turns by Jamie Dornan and Stanley Tucci, the drama celebrates the courage and sacrifice of a superlative journalist.

WARNER BROS. A Star is Born The fourth iteration of the 1937 classic, Bradley Cooper’s feature debut portrays a starcrossed love affair between two musicians—one a remarkable, unknown talent on the cusp of superstardom, the other an alcoholic rock star who took her there, even as his own career falters. Starring opposite the Oscar-friendly Cooper, musician Lady Gaga delivers a breakthrough acting performance.

Co-writing songs that they have since performed live—at festivals like Coachella, and prominent LA venues—the pair share palpable chemistry, with strong support from Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle and Andrew Dice Clay.

Crazy Rich Asians Based on a bestselling 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan, John M. Chu’s romantic comedy stars Fresh off the Boat’s Constance Wu and newcomer Henry Golding, and follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu on her journey to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family. The first studio picture in nearly three decades to feature a majority Asian American cast, the film’s success has underscored a substantial hunger for diverse stories and storytellers in mainstream entertainment.

NETFLIX The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Originally conceived as a series, Buster Scruggs is the product of 25 years’ worth of written material. Shooting digitally for the first time with their latest take on the American frontier, the Coen brothers enlist a shining cast for a satisfying series of storybook vignettes. A somber dissection of Western mythology’s archetypes and tropes, the pic offers up some original songs—and the poetry of an armless, legless man. Tim Blake Nelson stars as the auteurs’ titular rogue, with notable turns from Zoe Kazan and Bill Heck.

Private Life 11 years after The Savages—her last dramatic work, which took two Oscar nominations—Tamara Jenkins is back, examining the inner turmoil of an altogether different couple. Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti star as Richard and Rachel, a middle-aged couple who share the highs and lows of multiple fertility treatments, striving to bring a child into the world at a point when that ship may have sailed.

Enlisting their step-niece Sadie (Kayli Carter) as an egg donor, complications arise. Premiering at Sundance, the darkly comedic drama is bolstered by turns from Molly Shannon, Denis O’Hare and John Carroll Lynch.

The Kindergarten Teacher Maggie Gyllenhaal is Lisa, a discontented New York kindergarten teacher and aspiring

poet who knows all too well the limitations of her work. Recognizing miraculous talents in one of her students, she becomes obsessed, making decisions of increasing moral ambiguity, as she seeks artistic affirmation for herself in a child’s works. Costarring as Lisa’s poetry teacher, is Gael García Bernal, who reflects back to her the kind of person she so wants to be.

ANNAPURNA PICTURES If Beale Street Could Talk Following Moonlight’s Best Picture win, Barry Jenkins pursued a long-held dream of adapting James Baldwin’s 1974 novel for the screen. The romantic drama centers on Tish (newcomer KiKi Layne), a 19-year-old with a baby on the way, whose husband Fonny (Stephan James) is behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. But the fight for Fonny’s freedom is merely one strand of this meditation on love, justice and the AfricanAmerican experience.

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES Can You Ever Forgive Me? In the 1980s, when celebrity biographer Lee Israel found her career in decline, she found a criminally clever way to pay the bills, forging historical letters by the writers and actors she revered. Pursued by the FBI, this apparent low point gave the lonely misanthrope a new lease on life, as she crossed paths with charismatic New York con Jack Hock. In Marielle Heller’s biopic, based on Israel’s

eponymous memoir, Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant star as Israel and Hock—a match made in Hell’s Kitchen—finding light in one woman’s dark night of the soul.

BLEECKER STREET Disobedience From Sebastián Lelio—the Chilean filmmaker behind the Oscarwinning A Fantastic Woman—the romantic drama centers on Ronit (Rachel Weisz), a woman who returns to her Orthodox Jewish community following the death of her father. Ostracized earlier in life for her attraction to Esti (Rachel McAdams), a female childhood friend, the pair come face to face during her visit, reigniting romance, along with a personal conflict between faith and sexuality. Based on a novel by Naomi Alderman, which Lelio adapted with Rebecca Lenkiewicz in his English-language debut, the film also stars Alessandro Nivola as Esti’s husband.

Leave No Trace Debra Granik has a knack for cultivating talented unknowns.

While her 2010 drama Winter’s Bone put Jennifer Lawrence on the map with an Oscar nomination, Granik’s latest feature offers a platform for another relative newcomer, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie. The actress plays the 13-year-old daughter to Ben Foster’s PTSD-plagued veteran, who lives a secluded existence in one of Portland Oregon’s urban parks, until an encounter with the authorities alters their lives forever.

THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

DISOBEDIENCE

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

NEON Vox Lux Natalie Portman enters the world of pop music in the latest feature from writer/director Brady Corbet. The drama charts Celeste’s rise from a teenager with big aspirations to a woman of iconic status, whose intense experience of a violent tragedy births her career. With dance choreography by Benjamin Millipied, music by Sia and Scott Walker, and narration by Willem Dafoe, the film also features Jude Law as Celeste’s manager and young talent Raffey Cassidy.

Three Identical Strangers One of three Sundance docs going on to major box office success, Tim Wardle’s film was the only feature to do so without the

benefit of a high-profile subject.

Offering up a bizarre true story, it follows three young, adopted men growing up in ’80s New York who, after a series of random meetings, come to realize that they are triplets who were separated early in life—for reasons that prove shocking.

20TH CENTURY FOX Bohemian Rhapsody Rami Malek channels the late flamboyant rock star Freddie Mercury in a musical biopic chronicling the rise of British rock band Queen in the decade or so leading up to their legendary Live Aid performance in 1985, six years before the singer’s Aids-related death in 1991. Written by Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten, the film’s eclectic cast includes Lucy Boyn-

ton, Aiden Gillen, Tom Hollander and Mike Myers.

The Hate U Give In this adaptation of Angie Thomas’s bestselling novel, Amandla Stenberg stars as Starr Carter, a promising black student navigating two opposing worlds—her working-class neighborhood and her rich, predominantly white high school. Starr’s life is forever changed when her best friend is shot by the police, and as she wrestles with how to best respond to the situation, George Tillman Jr.’s drama brings the gravity of the Black Lives Matter movement to the YA arena through her eyes. Among the film’s remarkable ensemble are Russell Hornsby, Regina Hall, Anthony Mackie and Issa Rae. ★

FROM THE

CO-WRITER AND DIRECTOR OF THE BIG SHORT

Christian BALE Amy ADAMS Steve CARELL Sam ROCKWELL Tyler PERRY

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