THE FRONT RUNNER

[jo]

Will he be back at Telluride --

Eight months ago, Hugh went to visit the place --

[jo]

First confirmation that THE FRONT RUNNER is going to Telluride, although not directly from the Festival itself, but from one of the production companies of the movie.

Per Twitter --

Adhrucia
@adhrucia
Managing Director @ Creative Wealth Media
Executive Producer

Per IMDB --

Production Companies

BRON Studios
Creative Wealth Media Finance (in association with)
Right of Way Films

[jo]

THE FRONT RUNNER is going to London!

The land that occasionally gets tainted by political scandal as well ( Remember the Minister Profumo/Christine Keeler scandal?)

BFI is the British Film Institute.

[jo]

variety.com/2018/film/news/suspiria-roma-london-film-festival-full-lineup-1202920574/

In total, the festival will present 225 features from 75 countries, including 21 world premieres, 9 international premieres and 29 European premieres. Newly announced films seeing European premieres at the festival include Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner,” starring Hugh Jackman.

The 62nd BFI London Film Festival runs Oct. 10-21. As previously announced the festival will open with the European premiere of Steve McQueen’s “Widows” and close with the world premiere of Laurel and Hardy biopic “Stan & Ollie.”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45356216

Oscar hopefuls line up for London Film Festival...

"This year some key awards season films are going to be launched at the festival. That strategy has worked very well in recent years," said artistic director Tricia Tuttle.

"It's been a key launch pad for some of the autumn season films, particularly ones with awards season ambitions."
Other films being screened which currently have Academy Awards hopes include...


Historical comedy The Favourite, which features Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, is also expected to be a highlight of the forthcoming awards season.

As is The Front Runner which has its European premiere at the festival, and which stars Hugh Jackman as 1988 presidential candidate Gary Hart who became caught up in allegations of an extramarital affair..

[jo]

The Mayfair Hotel Theatre looks posh!


www.themayfairhotel.co.uk/en/may-fair-theatre.html

[jo]

The trailer is here!



ew.com/movies/2018/08/30/hugh-jackman-the-front-runner-trailer/

Please check out the trailer itself from the link!

Hugh Jackman is a candidate in crisis in first trailer for The Front Runner

The first trailer for The Front Runner asks the viewer to make a choice.

It doesn’t tell you what to feel or think. It gives you the frenetic true story of a presidential campaign under siege and asks you to decide what was right and what was wrong.


In many ways, that’s what journalism is supposed to accomplish — and director Jason Reitman’s film is just as interested in the free press as it is Hugh Jackman’s Gary Hart, the Democratic frontrunner for the White House in 1987, whose candidacy collapsed in the news-cycle equivalent of a heartbeat.

“This is a movie with a dozen different points of view. And you can already see in the trailer, you’re going to be observing this story from every perspective,” Reitman tells EW.

“When I heard the Gary Hart story for the first time, I couldn’t believe it had happened. And I couldn’t believe no one had made a movie about it yet,” he said.



The movie — which opens Nov. 7, just after the midterm elections — will be making its festival debut at Telluride and Toronto in the weeks ahead. While that sets it up for award season consideration, the Up in the Air and Juno filmmaker says he hopes it has the energy of “a real-life thriller.”

“There was a moment when Gary Hart looked like he was going to be the next president of the United States. And within a week he was out of the race and never ran again,” says Reitman, who co-wrote the script with former Hillary Clinton spokesman Jay Carson, and Matt Bai, author of the book on which it’s based, All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid. “This trailer captured the speed with which the world was shifting under everybody’s feet.”

Hart, who was then a Colorado senator, was known for his foreign policy intellect, his ability to communicate complex policy ideas to voters, and a compassion and charisma that appealed to voters.

Then the campaign was caught off guard by a personal scandal involving a model, a yacht, and press that was no longer willing to overlook such things.


“It was a moment in which the Hart campaign, The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, and Hart himself were trying to make decisions in real time with not enough information and no sense of how much the landscape had changed forever,” Reitman says.

Vera Farmiga costars as his wife, Lee Hart; J.K. Simmons is campaign manager Bill Dixon; Mamoudou Athie is A.J. Parker, an amalgamation of reporters for The Washington Post; Molly Ephraim is Irene Kelly, another composite character, who is a scheduler with campaign; Steve Zissis is real-life Miami Herald reporter Tom Fiedler; and Sara Paxton plays Donna Rice, the actress and model whose life was also upended by the scandal.

Check out the full ensemble cast here.

The Front Runner also explores this upheaval with a bursts of dark humor, as evidenced by the new poster — which imagines a cluster of reporters watching as the Hart ’88 campaign bus sails off a cliff.



“Politics in this country — take it from me — is on the verge of becoming another form of athletic competition or sporting match,” Hart himself said at the height of the scandal in 1987.

Then, suggesting that well-intentioned-but-flawed candidates would withdraw from the spotlight and leave only those devoid of shame, he paraphrased a line from Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble for my country when I think we may, in fact, get the kind of leaders we deserve.

*****************************************************


www.indiewire.com/2018/08/the-front-runner-trailer-hugh-jackman-jason-reitman-1201999054/

‘The Front Runner’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman Faces a Political Sex Scandal in Jason Reitman Drama
Hugh Jackman's performance will be one to watch when the movie premieres at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend.

‘The Front Runner’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman Faces a Political Sex Scandal in Jason Reitman Drama
Hugh Jackman's performance will be one to watch when the movie premieres at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend.

Zack Sharf
6 mins ago

‘The Front Runner”
Columbia Pictures/YouTube
View Gallery
34 Photos


Jason Reitman isn’t waisting (sic) time returning to theaters after his well-reviewed “Tully” debuted to positive reviews at the start of the summer movie season. The Oscar nominee is hitting awards season with Hugh Jackman in the political scandal drama “The Front Runner,” which will world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and screen at TIFF.

Read More:Telluride Reveals 2018 Full Lineup: ‘Destroyer,’ ‘White Boy Rick,’ and ‘The Old Man & the Gun’ Set for World Premieres

“The Front Runner” stars Hugh Jackman as political Gary Hart, whose 1988 presidential campaign infamously derailed after he got caught up in a scandalous love affair. While Jackman is new to Reitman’s world, “The Front Runner” features reunions between the director and “Up in the Air” star Vera Farmiga and “Juno” favorite J.K. Simmons. The supporting cast also includes Alfred Molina, Sara Paxton, and Kaitlyn Dever.

“This is a movie with a dozen different points of view. And you can already see in the trailer, you’re going to be observing this story from every perspective,” Reitman told Entertainment Weekly about the movie. “When I heard the Gary Hart story for the first time, I couldn’t believe it had happened. And I couldn’t believe no one had made a movie about it yet.”


“The Front Runner” will debut in theaters November 7 from Columbia Pictures. Watch the trailer below.

Check out the trailer from the link.

Expand the screen to full screen for better viewing!


Jo

[jo]

The MPAA rating is "R"


Check out the Poster ( Great!) and the MPAA certification -- please scroll down :


ew.com/movies/2018/08/30/hugh-jackman-the-front-runner-trailer/

[jo]

The inclusion of THE FRONT RUNNER at the Telluride Film Festival is officially confirmed as the List is released.


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/telluride-film-festival-2018-list-films-1138465

That will be the world premiere of the Jason Reitman-directed Hugh Jackman starrer!


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

theplaylist.net/the-front-runner-trailer-hugh-jackman-stars-in-true-story-of-major-political-sex-scandal-20180830/

‘The Front Runner’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman Stars In True Story Of Major Political Sex Scandal
David Pountain August 30, 2018 9:39 am Festivals, News, Trailers

Whatever ill will director Jason Reitman may have garnered for “Labor Day” and “Men, Women and Children” has been more or less negated in the eyes of most critics by the well-received, if commercially underwhelming “Tully.” Now the pressure is on “The Front Runner” to complete this 2018 two-fer on a worthy note, and this time, the filmmaker is getting topical.


Returning to the messy world of politics to an extent we haven’t seen since 2005’s “Thank You for Smoking,” Reitman’s next feature sees the “Juno” helmsman mining for satire in the true-life sex scandal of presidential candidate Gary Hart. The biographical comedy is based on Matt Bai’s 2014 book “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid,” and if that work is anything to go by, ‘Front Runner’ will primarily take aim at the 24-hour news cycle and the tabloid mentality of political journalism that Hart’s scandal reportedly helped solidify.


Here’s the official synopsis:
Hugh Jackman is set to star in the upcoming biopic “The Front Runner,” about former Senator Gary Hart. Hart served as a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1975 to 1987, but is most famous for his two bids for the presidency in 1984 and 1988. During the latter primary campaign, he was considered the frontrunner, far ahead of eventual candidate Mike Dukakis, but his momentum became hobbled by accusations in the media of an extramarital affair. Hart famously challenged the media to, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” The tabloids accepted the challenge, and photographs of Hart with a woman named Donna Rice aboard a yacht brought a swift end to his candidacy.


The film’s cast includes Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, Kaitlyn Dever, Sara Paxton, J. K. Simmons, Mamoudou Athie, Molly Ephraim, Josh Brener, and Mike Judge. Bai and Reitman are sharing script duties with Jay Carson.

“The Front Runner” will have showings at Telluride and the Toronto International Film Festival, before hitting US theaters on November 7 via Columbia Pictures. Watch the trailer below:

[jo]

www.slashfilm.com/the-front-runner-trailer/

‘The Front Runner’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman’s Presidential Campaign Collapses
Posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2018 by Chris Evangelista


Gary Hart was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. And then everything went wrong. Jason Reitman‘s The Front Runner tracks the rise and fall of Hart, as played by Hugh Jackman. Watch The Front Runner trailer below.

The Front Runner Trailer



“There was a moment when Gary Hart looked like he was going to be the next president of the United States,” Jason Reitman tells Entertainment Weekly, who debuted the trailer above. “And within a week he was out of the race and never ran again.” What happened? A scandal broke alleging Hart had an affair with actress and model Donna Rice, and the press coverage was too much for him to bounce back from. He dropped out and never tried again. The Front Runner‘s plot seems almost quaint compared to the current political climate, where seemingly no scandal is big enough to derail the careers of certain politicians. Because this is a hell world.

Hugh Jackman is one of those actors who always gives his all, no matter what the project. This is the type of big, showy, dramatic role he can really sink his teeth into, and probably campaign for an Oscar as well. The rest of the cast includes Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Mamoudou Athie, Molly Ephraim, Steve Zissis, and Sara Paxton.

This is an effective, well-cut trailer. Everything unfolding here looks compelling – although the moment where a reporter shouts, “It’s up to us to hold these guys accountable!” is a bit on-the-nose. While the focus is on Hart, Reitman tells EW that The Front Runner is going to cover the story from multiple angles. “This is a movie with a dozen different points of view. And you can already see in the trailer, you’re going to be observing this story from every perspective,” the filmmaker says. On the TIFF page for The Front Runner, it’s mentioned that Reitman channelled Robert Altman’s work for the observational style of the narrative. I’m not so sure if I buy that based on the trailer, but we shall see.

The Front Runner will debut at the Telluride Film Festival and play TIFF, before opening on November 7, 2018.

[jo]

Now it is beginning to be clear why it is going to be released on a limited basis on November 7, 2018!


Is that Election Day or Day-After-Election in America ?

[jo]

The success of the films seems anchored on the reputation of Jason Reitman as director and the versatility of Hugh Jackman as a dramatic actor in an unwitting political comedy situation!

collider.com/the-front-runner-trailer-hugh-jackman/#images

[jo]

Based on the trailer and some trailer notes from film sites, it seems that the movie may be focusing mainly not on the whole Hart campaign, but only on the tense few days before, during, and after the scandal broke out. That explains why Hugh's facial expression and body language is carrying that tense, awkward, grim, and explosive expression when the tension is about to break! It almost looks like a thriller although the subject is politics and also focuses on how media influenced the way politics was conducted from thereon!

Most interesting surprise to me is the MPAA rating of R : Restricted .
Per BoxOfficeMojo, based on the MPAA details :

The Front Runner
Drama
Sony
11/7/18
R
language including some sexual references

At least we won't have to wait that long to hear or read about the first reviews, maybe from Telluride (unless there is an embargo till TIFF concludes). Even if there is an embargo, there will likely be strong buzz on the appeal of this movie and how it stacks up against the other award-season films. One thing, though -- is this the only dramatic movie which tackles the subject of politics and politicos? Hmm... if well done, this film will be the object of interest then.


Jo

[jo]

Cinemablend takes more than just a perfunctory view of the message of the trailer --

www.cinemablend.com/news/2456652/hugh-jackmans-the-front-runner-trailer-is-fiery-and-controversial

trailers
Hugh Jackman's The Front Runner Trailer Is Fiery And Controversial

By Mike Reyes
0 Comments
30 minutes ago

In 1988, Senator Gary Hart could have been the Democratic Party's best hope for the presidency. That all changed after a personal scandal not only sunk his personal prospects, it forever altered the way political discourse would be conducted in U.S. politics. Now, thirty years after the fact, writer/director Jason Reitman has adapted that story for the screen, with Hugh Jackman playing Senator Hart himself. Get your first look at The Front Runner with the first explosive trailer below.

Not merely content with delivering Tully to the world in 2018, Reitman is now looking to stir the pot with a film about one of the landmark political scandals of the 1980s, and what could be Jackman's most intriguing performance is at the center of what makes The Front Runner look so compelling. Promised as a dark comedy, the story of Senator Hart's fall from grace is showing its more serious stripes in the first trailer above, with Hugh Jackman showing both an unease and righteous anger that we don't normally see him convey onscreen. For the man who usually emits the aura of musical showman or rampaging badass, his portrayal of Gary Hart looks like it could point toward a golden (statue) future, as he auditions to run with Reitman's repertory pack that includes his co-stars J.K. Simmons and Vera Farmiga.

It should also be noted that The Front Runner is aptly named, as it's not only set to take the stage within the vicinity of the 2018 Midterm Elections, but it also looks like a strong prestige contender for awards glory. Not only does Hugh Jackman shine in this trailer, but Simmons and Farmiga both anchor down some moments of intense action in this trailer that plays like a breezy brick through a plate glass window. With a supporting bench that also includes Alfred Molina, Bill Burr, Toby Huss, and Ari Graynor, it looks like The Front Runner means business when it comes to shaking hands and kissing babies with the various cinematic voting boards all over.

The Front Runner does not look like a film that's merely aiming to either win awards or fire up political discussion. It looks like a film that mixes those twin passions into a cocktail that could entertain, enlighten, and maybe even enrage moviegoers from all walks of life. Those who lived during the Hart scandal will hear familiar echoes of the past, but those who weren't able to witness the collapse of what was once a promising candidacy should be able to easily trace the path between then and now. And what's better, we'll have Hugh Jackman, and a hell of a supporting cast to tell the tale.

The Front Runner will debut at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, before making its biggest campaign stop in theaters nationwide on November 7th. If you're curious who else will be gunning for your box office / awards season votes at that point, or any other between now and the end of the year, head over to our 2018 release schedule to get informed.

[jo]

variety.com/2018/film/news/hugh-jackman-front-runner-trailer-1202921731/

Hugh Jackman Faces Political Sex Scandal in ‘The Front Runner’ First Trailer
By Dave McNary

Dave McNary
Film Reporter
@variety_DMcNary



Hugh Jackman brings Gary Hart to life as a presidential candidate in crisis in the first trailer for Sony’s political drama “The Front Runner.”

The footage begins with an ultra-confident Jackman declaring, “I’m Gary Hart, and I’m running for president.”

“The Front Runner” chronicles the rise and fall of Hart, a charismatic U.S. Senator from Colorado, who was considered the frontrunner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. In what may have been the first merger of tabloid journalism and political journalism, Hart was forced to drop out of the race.

Jackman portrays Hart as a politician with a gift for connecting personally. His campaign manager Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons) says that’s he’s never seen a more able politician. Vera Farmiga plays his spouse, Lee Hart.


By the end of trailer, the affair is about to be revealed with downcast as Jackman warns Farmiga, “There’s going to be a story tomorrow about me.”

Sony Pictures released the trailer Thursday morning, as “The Front Runner” was announced as part of the lineup for the Telluride Film Festival. Sony is planning a Nov. 7 release to coincide with award season and election coverage.
Mamoudou Athie portrays A.J. Parker, a Washington Post reporter. Molly Ephraim is a scheduler with campaign and Sara Paxton plays Rice, the actress and model whose life was also upended.

Jason Reitman is directing from a script he wrote with veteran political journalist Matt Bai and former press secretary for Hillary Clinton, Jay Carson. It is based on Bai’s 2014 book, “All the Truth Is Out.”

Did you notice that, too ?

A confident, almost cocky Hart announcing for the presidency!


A downcast Hart breaking the news to his wife ( and the consequence to his dreams of the presidency)!


Someone mentioned that this is a well-cut trailer. Perhaps also because it seems that the trailer itself builds up the tension that will cause his fall from grace.

Maybe because this story is so different from the other award-baits/festival favorites that it can draw the interest of audiences because of its unique subject and the resonance of that theme to today's political environment.

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BnGz4HZDVn5

[njr]

Aug 30, 2018 9:25:29 GMT -5 jo said:

Now it is beginning to be clear why it is going to be released on a limited basis on November 7, 2018!


Is that Election Day or Day-After-Election in America ?

Nov. 7th is the day after our mid-term election day.

[jo]

Veteran movie press Anne Thompson calls TELLURIDE the crucible when it comes to Oscar forecasting!


www.indiewire.com/2018/08/venice-oscar-race-telluride-film-festivals-1201999179/

Welcome to the Telluride Film Festival, Your Oscar Race Crucible
The real Oscar conversation begins at Telluride.

Anne Thompson
50 mins ago
@akstanwyck


For better or worse, Telluride is the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “Colette” and “Wildlife” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders, but all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.


Just how did Telluride become such a crucible? Aren’t the strongest movies also opening in Venice? Sure, Damien Chazelle’s “First Man” (Universal) starring Ryan Gosling as moon-lander Neil Armstrong has already emerged with raves on the order of his prior Oscar-winners “Whiplash” and “La La Land,” but the real conversation will be had when a larger number of film critics and awards pundits weigh in up in the mountains of Colorado.



Netflix contributed to the overheated fall corridor when it pulled four major movies out of the Cannes lineup in a dispute over French theatrical windows. Significantly, seven Netflix features debut at Venice, and first among equals is Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white 65 mm autobiographical Spanish-language “Roma,” which also plays Telluride, Toronto and New York. It scored strong Venice reviews Aug. 30, before heading to Telluride for two Cuaron tribute screenings.

Netflix quietly qualified “Roma” for submission as Mexico’s Oscar entry by opening the film August 24 for a one-week theatrical run in Mexico City, in time for the August 26 eligibility deadline. It’s hard to imagine that Mexico won’t submit such a strong contender from Best Director Oscar-winner Cuaron (“Gravity”). The question Telluride will answer is how the movie plays as a major awards contender.

Also playing Venice, Telluride, and Toronto is the Fox Searchlight’s trifecta of Yorgos Lanthimos’ royal intrigue “The Favourite,” Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and David Lowery’s “The Old Man & The Gun,” which could yield acting nominations. Searchlight is waiting for the media to tell them which categories are appropriate for “The Favourite” cast, which includes Oscar-winners Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, not to mention Olivia Colman as crazy Queen Anne. (IndieWire’s Michael Nordine is placing his bets on Colman for Best Supporting.)

“The Favourite”
Fox Searchlight
Melissa McCarthy needs a hit, if not an Oscar-contending role as a down-on-her-luck novelist. “The Old Man & the Gun” offers three Oscar-winners in Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, and Casey Affleck.

“Boy Erased”
Focus Features
Focus Features’ conversion-therapy drama “Boy Erased” has turned up at Telluride, where they and actor-director Joel Edgerton will find out if Oscar-winners Nicole Kidman (also starring in Karyn Kusama’s edgy genre film “Destroyer”) and Russell Crowe and “Manchester by the Sea” nominee Lucas Hedges have the right Oscar stuff.


Sony Pictures is making a rare foray to Colorado with Hugh Jackman, who has never been before, and veteran attendee Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”), who is introducing Gary Hart political thriller “The Front Runner.” And British action director Yann Demange, who’s on the James Bond shortlist to replace Danny Boyle, is bringing father-son drug-runner drama “White Boy Rick,” his follow-up to 2014 breakout “’71,” which played the festival. Matthew McConaughey will also be on hand.

Amazon has an entry in the Telluride awards stakes with Oscar-perennial Mike Leigh’s Cannes-rejected “Peterloo,” a massive period recreation of a British 1819 massacre. And a raft of documentaries will make their mark, including National Geographic’s El Capitain climbing feat “Free Solo,” from the team that made “Meru.”

Let the games begin.

[jo]

Telluride makes the official total program announcement --

telluridefilmfestival.org/

[jo]

Aug 30, 2018 16:21:39 GMT -5 jo said:

Veteran movie press Anne Thompson calls TELLURIDE the crucible when it comes to Oscar forecasting!


www.indiewire.com/2018/08/venice-oscar-race-telluride-film-festivals-1201999179/

Welcome to the Telluride Film Festival, Your Oscar Race Crucible
The real Oscar conversation begins at Telluride.

Anne Thompson
50 mins ago
@akstanwyck


For better or worse, Telluride is the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “Colette” and “Wildlife” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders, but all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.


Just how did Telluride become such a crucible? Aren’t the strongest movies also opening in Venice? Sure, Damien Chazelle’s “First Man” (Universal) starring Ryan Gosling as moon-lander Neil Armstrong has already emerged with raves on the order of his prior Oscar-winners “Whiplash” and “La La Land,” but the real conversation will be had when a larger number of film critics and awards pundits weigh in up in the mountains of Colorado.

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Sony Pictures is making a rare foray to Colorado with Hugh Jackman, who has never been before, and veteran attendee Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”), who is introducing Gary Hart political thriller “The Front Runner.”

Maybe Hugh did not turn up at TELLURIDE himself, but PRISONERS was a highly acclaimed sneak peek entry at the 2013 festival.

deadline.com/2013/08/telluride-surprise-prisoners-rocks-the-fest-and-becomes-instant-oscar-contender-575749/


Jo

[jo]

This is a great poster!

An excellent representation of the film's satire element. Jason Reitman calls it "a political comedy"...and his visual artist captures the mood and the message perfectly!


Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BnG_RJJgL4X

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BnGz4HZDVn5

You can feel the throbbing, riveting and tense atmosphere -- this is going to be much-talked about!

[jo]

Aaron Gilbert, founder and producer of BRON --