Focus Features dates their awards players for next year
Keira Knightley has reunited with her "Atonement" director Joe Wright in "Anna Karenina."
Credit: AP Photo
In theory, there is nothing wrong with having your film labeled "Oscar bait." Sure, it insinuates that the picture is being released or aimed at an audience interested in awards worthy films, but most of the time they usually turn out more than O.K. Some major Oscar bait movies this year were "The Descendants," "War Horse," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "The Ides of March" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." Of course, "Carnage," "Anonymous" and "J. Edgar" had that label too. Focus Features, which has had a superb year so far with "Beginners," "Tinker," "Jane Eyre" and the upcoming "Pariah," released their 2012 schedule today and - no surprise - a number of potential contenders for the next Oscar season made the list.
Paul Weitz's "Being Flynn" arrives in March and while it has icon Robert De Niro and former nominee Julianne Moore, it's likely an early art house play. More intriguing is "Seeking A Friend At The End Of The world." The unconventional flick features Steve Carell and Keira Knightley as two people who embark on a road trip with the end of the world almost at hand. We're guessing a SXSW slot for that one.
Screaming for a Cannes Film Festival premiere is Wes Anderson's first live action film since "The Darjeeling Limited" in 2007, "Moonrise Kingdom." The late May release is described as a tale of young love with the adults played by Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman. And that's two winners and two other nominees among the six of them (not counting Anderson's two nominations). And, again, it's Anderson. At some point he's gonna be due.
On the animation side, LAIKA returns with their first stop motion creation since the beloved "Coraline," "ParaNorman." Just on pedigree, the August release will be on the shortlist for best animated feature along with "Brave," "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," "Frankenweenie" and "The Pirates! Bands of Misfits" and "Rise of the Guardians."
Looking as though it will be ready for a Venice, Toronto or New York Film Festival debut is "Hyde Park on Hudson." A possible comeback for Roger Michell, the period piece finds Bill Murray as FDR, Olivia Williams as Eleanor Roosevelt and Laura Linney as their daughter Daisy. The film is inspired from real life events when the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) traveled to New York to try and convince the U.S. President to join the war effort in Europe. With that cast? That subject matter? Oscar bait 101.
Focus' real player, however, is Joe Wright's fourth film with the mini-major, "Anna Karenina." The adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic tale features an all-star cast including Knightley (her third film with Wright), Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. The subject matter, the cast and Wright's pedigree ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice," "Hanna") will make "Karenina" one of the most anticipated films of 2012. No pressure Joe.
Other films likely to play the awards season game next year include Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," Tom Hooper's adaptation of the musical version of "Les Miserables" and of course, Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises."
Paul Weitz's "Being Flynn" arrives in March and while it has icon Robert De Niro and former nominee Julianne Moore, it's likely an early art house play. More intriguing is "Seeking A Friend At The End Of The world." The unconventional flick features Steve Carell and Keira Knightley as two people who embark on a road trip with the end of the world almost at hand. We're guessing a SXSW slot for that one.
Screaming for a Cannes Film Festival premiere is Wes Anderson's first live action film since "The Darjeeling Limited" in 2007, "Moonrise Kingdom." The late May release is described as a tale of young love with the adults played by Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman. And that's two winners and two other nominees among the six of them (not counting Anderson's two nominations). And, again, it's Anderson. At some point he's gonna be due.
On the animation side, LAIKA returns with their first stop motion creation since the beloved "Coraline," "ParaNorman." Just on pedigree, the August release will be on the shortlist for best animated feature along with "Brave," "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," "Frankenweenie" and "The Pirates! Bands of Misfits" and "Rise of the Guardians."
Looking as though it will be ready for a Venice, Toronto or New York Film Festival debut is "Hyde Park on Hudson." A possible comeback for Roger Michell, the period piece finds Bill Murray as FDR, Olivia Williams as Eleanor Roosevelt and Laura Linney as their daughter Daisy. The film is inspired from real life events when the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) traveled to New York to try and convince the U.S. President to join the war effort in Europe. With that cast? That subject matter? Oscar bait 101.
Focus' real player, however, is Joe Wright's fourth film with the mini-major, "Anna Karenina." The adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic tale features an all-star cast including Knightley (her third film with Wright), Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. The subject matter, the cast and Wright's pedigree ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice," "Hanna") will make "Karenina" one of the most anticipated films of 2012. No pressure Joe.
Other films likely to play the awards season game next year include Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," Tom Hooper's adaptation of the musical version of "Les Miserables" and of course, Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises."
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