This evening I attended the Weinstein Co.’s Cannes presentation in which they revealed information, footage and trailers from all of their upcoming 2013 releases, both domestically and abroad. For the most part what was shown has already been seen such as trailers for The Butler, August: Osage County, The Grandmaster and Fruitvale Station plus a clip from Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, all of which I have included below in this recap of events, which did also feature some new footage from a selection of films.
Weinstein himself seemed most proud of the upcoming, Shane Salerno-directed portrait of J.D. Salinger, which is aptly titled Salinger and 2013 Cannes jury member Nicole Kidman was on hand to offer a few words on Grace of Monaco, of which a five-minute trailer was shown.
Rough trailers were also shown for One Chance and the Idris Elba-starrer Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and a clip featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard was shown from the Cannes Palme d’Or contender, James Gray‘s The Immigrant, and another clip featuring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
As you can see above, Yuen Wo Ping was also in attendance as he was just announced as the official director of Crouching Dragon Hidden Tiger II – The Green Destiny with Donnie Yen starring as Silent Wolf and Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien. The screenplay was written by John Fusco (Hidalgo) and was based on “Iron Knight, Silver Vase” by Wang Du Lu, Book 5 in the “Crane-Iron Pentalogy” and Harvey Weinstein insists their goal is to adapt all five books.
With all that said, here’s a recap of what went down…
The Butler
All that was shown for The Butler was the previously release trailer, which you can watch below. The film, starring Forest Whitaker is inspired by Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about an African-American man who served as a butler (Whitaker) to eight Presidents in the White House for over thirty years.
The film hits theaters on August 16.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
The Weinsteins are handling the foreign rights for David Lowery‘s Sundance feature Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which is playing in the Critics’ Week Selection here at Cannes and not only was co-star Rooney Mara on hand, but they showed a clip from the film, which I presume was from the film’s opening as it focused on the capture of the film’s two lead characters, Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Mara).
The outlaw couple are apprehended after an extended crime spree after a shootout in the Texas hills, and although Ruth wounds a local officer, Bob takes the blame. But four years later, Bob escapes from prison and sets out to find Ruth and their daughter, born during his incarceration.
IFC is releasing the film on August 16 domestically.
August: Osage County
All that was shown from the Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts starrer, adapted from the Tracy Letts play was the previously released trailer, which you can view below.
August: Osage County hits theaters on November 8.
Salinger
Of the films in which previously unseen footage was screened, I found Shane Salerno‘s Salinger to be the most intriguing. The portrait of the man that wrote “Franny and Zooey”, “Nine Stories” and, of course, “The Catcher in the Rye” looks to focus on the life he lead following his last published work in 1965.
The Immigrant
The clip from The Immigrant that was shown featured Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard in a scene I’m assuming plays early in the film as it appears its the first time their two characters meet, or close to. Cotillard plays Ewa Cybulski, a Polish immigrant heading to Manhattan in 1920 in search of the American Dream only to be driven to burlesque and prostitution by Phoenix’s character and at the end of the clip he tells her to return the next day and the girls will show her what she needs to do.
I paid only the slightest of attention since I am seeing the movie next Friday here in Cannes, so no need to spoil it.
However, while I don’t have the clip I saw to show you, the following clip from the film did come online today featuring Cotillard and Jeremy Renner, who plays a vaudeville magician that falls for her character.
