THE FRONT RUNNER

[jo]

The film has wrapped ( according to the director and the producer) but H'wood Reporter is speculating that this might have something to do with The Front Runner, since Gary Hart was a senator representing Colorado.

www.thedenverchannel.com/news/trending/hugh-jackman-is-in-colorado-and-people-are-losing-their-minds

DENVER – What could possibly bring Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman to the Rocky Mountains? “Awe inspiring, #naturalbeauty” it seems.

The actor, most famously known for portraying Wolverine on the big screen, is causing a stir on social media after taking a selfie somewhere in Colorado.

Can you guess where he is?

Now that you've guessed correctly, we have to ask: What is he doing in the mountains? It would appear he was here to ski, based on a response to fellow actor Ryan Reynolds. But Telluride Ski Resort doesn't open until Thanksgiving.  
The Hollywood Reporter seems to have an answer. 

Jackman could be in Colorado for production of the political drama The Front Runner, where he will play fallen Colorado politician Gary Hart. 

Hart was considered the Democratic frontrunner for the presidential nomination in 1988, but was forced to drop out due to allegations of an extramarital affair, the entertainment website reports. 

Also --

www.9news.com/life/hugh-jackman-stopped-by-telluride-and-were-more-excited-than-he-was/492245582

 

[jo]

This image was posted among the Instagram entries with the hashtag THE FRONT RUNNER --

http://instagram.com/p/BcPeSjaBL_X

[njr]

Dec 15, 2017 4:08:27 GMT -5 jo said:

This image was posted among the Instagram entries with the hashtag THE FRONT RUNNER --

http://instagr.am/p/BcPeSjaBL_X

But obviously pic is from The Greatest Showman. 🙄

Nancy

[jo]

Kind words from an actor who plays Gary Hart's aide the camp in THE FRONT RUNNER --

www.thetelegram.com/living/newfoundland-actor-mark-obrien-on-working-in-hollywood-and-his-best-role-yet-a-dad-173055/

About a month ago, O’Brien wrapped shooting on the movie “The Frontrunner,” a political drama starring Hugh Jackman.
Written and directed by Jason Reitman, the film is based on the career of former Colorado senator Gary Hart, who was seen as the frontrunner for the 1988 race for the Democratic presidential nomination until an alleged affair with former Miss South Carolina Donna Rice came to light.

O’Brien plays Billy Shore, Hart’s aide-de-camp. He says he hasn’t yet met Shore, though the pair follow each other on Instagram.

“I don’t think it helps to talk to people you’re playing (on film),” O’Brien says. “I don’t know, I mean, they’re already there on the page. I don’t want to do an impression of him. He’s an amazing guy. I think you have to put your own spin on it when you play a real person. I think I did.”

Jackman, O’Brien says, was also amazing.

“He is the most profession(al), kind person. Every Friday he’d bring scratch tickets in for the people on set, and he was always talking about his wife and kids. He’s incredibly talented, and just a really open person.”

[jo]

It's now time for the 2018 movies. The FRONT RUNNER, produced by up-and-coming studio BRON, has secured a release date in the USA for 2018. The story is of particular interest to American audiences given the political drama that unfolded during the run for the presidency of Senator Gary Hart.

Here's a tip-off on the kind of expectations for the movie, among other pop cultural spots of interest to New Englanders ( the journal is written from Saugus, Massachussetts which is near the academic center of Boston/Cambridge) ... and might bear watching for Jackman fans --

saugus.wickedlocal.com/blogs/20180106/petes-5-pop-culture-moments-to-get-excited-about-in-2018

Movie: "The Frontrunner," directed by Jason Reitman (Release date TBA)

Written by my fellow Jumbo Matt Bai (referring to our shared history as Tufts grads, not our shirt sizes) from his excellent (and prescient) 2014 book "All The Truth Is Out," "The Frontrunner" might finally be the role that garners erstwhile Wolverine Hugh Jackman his first Oscar.

Jackman plays Sen. Gary Hart, who dropped out of the presidential race in 1987 after the Miami Herald reported about Hart's possible extramarital liaison with Donna Rice (she of the famous "Monkey Business" photo). It was a pivotal moment in the history of journalism, and not in a good way -- Bai refers to it in the subtitle of his book as "the week politics went tabloid." Not necessarily a great look for journalism, but it couldn't make for a timelier movie. Also featuring J.K. Simmons and Vera Farmiga.

*The movie is not straight drama but mixes political events and the changed role of media starting at that time. Director Jason Reitman describes it as "a political comedy about the moment in our history when tabloid journalism and political journalism drove into the same lane."


*I am enthusiastic about the man directing the movie. Jason Reitman ( whose father is also a well-known filmmaker) is a two-time Oscar nominated director. His most famous film is arguably JUNO, which secured nominations for Best Picture and a Best Actress nomination for Ellen Page.


This role is going to be a complete departure in roles from Hugh Jackman's four previous movies and one stage role--

2014 - THE RIVER ( Broadway)
2015 - PAN
2016 - EDDIE THE EAGLE
2017 - LOGAN and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

From the French media interview --

The Front Runner, for example, looks like a cross between THE CANDIDATE with Robert Redford and THE PLAYER by Robert Altman.

I've just finished filming THE FRONT RUNNER by Jason Reitman, a director I admire a lot. I was on the set with J.K.Simmons, Vera Farmiga, and other fabulous comedians...

[jo]

I've just finished filming THE FRONT RUNNER by Jason Reitman, a director I admire a lot. I was on the set with J.K.Simmons, Vera Farmiga, and other fabulous comedians...

And of them has been cast as George McGovern in THE FRONT RUNNER.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/comedian-bill-burr-signs-wme-all-areas-1079026

Bill Burr has signed with WME in all areas, The Hollywood Reporter has learned...

In a departure from comedy, he’s set to portray 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern in Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner, about the sex scandal that toppled politician Gary Hart’s (Hugh Jackman) presidential dreams.

There was some concern when the movie was announced that a storyline focusing on a certain phase in Gary Hart's political life may no longer resonate and not attract interest.

But given the current social interest in the lives of those in public who have allegedly been involved in various sexual misconduct, it just may have hit on the right time to revisit the impact of such a scandal on the life of a politician running for the US presidency!

Although we do not know yet how this will all be treated in the movie, given Reitman's description which involves the media and the politician!

Jason Reitman describes it as "a political comedy about the moment in our history when tabloid journalism and political journalism drove into the same lane."

[jo]

Jason Reitman's latest movie, TULLY with Charlize Theron, is among the top 20 Critics Pick at Sundance this year.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-sundance-films-2018-critics-festival-picks-1078028

Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman team up a third time for another sharp, funny and strange look at pregnancy and challenges surrounding it. This time, we approach motherhood not from the perspective of a pregnant teen, but of a mother of three (Charlize Theron) whose latest child might well be the end of her — if not for the arrival of a miracle nanny (Mackenzie Davis). The often-very-funny picture entertains while affording its characters their share of no-laughing-matter concerns. — J.D.

The Front Runner is described by Jason Reitman as a political comedy. Maybe the film quality ( "The often-very-funny picture entertains while affording its characters their share of no-laughing-matter concerns.") that attracted the critics eyes for Tully would also reflect on Reitman's next film THE FRONT RUNNER?

Jo

[jo]

It's not the movie TULLY that is the subject of interest here, but how Jason Reitman's directorial skills ( 2 Oscar nominations) continue to flourish or has become less impressive --

www.tracking-board.com/tully-review-sundance-scores-with-secret-screening-starring-a-terrific-charlize-theron/

Excerpts --

I hope Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody and Charlize Theron keep making films together forever. Young Adult was my favorite Reitman film before this, and I think Tully is right on par with it. Theron is terrific in the film, and as a physically transformative performance, this is right up there with Monster. She knows how to sell Cody’s dialogue perfectly. She’s witty and sharp-tongued, but it doesn’t feel glib. It’s just the way she processes things. There is an emotional weight to the work Theron does here that I found quite moving, but she’s not looking for cheap sympathy. There’s no vanity to her work here, and honestly, it makes me love her even more as a performer. She reminds me of De Niro in his late ‘70s/early ‘80s prime when he would completely change his body from role to role, and the choices he made helped build his characters from the outside in. I can’t believe this is Furiosa or that she’s the same person who laid such emotional waste to her hometown in Young Adult. Theron vanishes into Marlo, and I find this character to be completely recognizable, totally empathetic.

.

Reitman’s become a punching bag for some critics, and unfairly. He’s had an uneven career, but it’s clear that the material he makes is material that speaks to him in a personal way. You don’t make films like Up In The Air or Juno or this because you’re trying to book the next Star Wars. These are very human movies, and I love that he seems to be willing to let his leads be terribly flawed without judging them. His movies aren’t morality plays; they are character studies, and they’re far more concerned with the inner lives of their leads than they are with plot mechanics. Tully is a very simple movie in many ways, but it is controlled and mature and emotionally complex. Eric Steelberg’s photography is intimate and soft, making it feel like we are somewhat submerged in Marlo’s life, just like she is.

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BbcQqE4jgN8

[jo]

At last - some bit of news about THE FRONT RUNNER!

deadline.com/2018/02/berlin-hot-buzz-titles-2018-efm-1202288852/

Hot 2018 Berlin Titles: What Buyers Are Buzzing About At The EFM
by Peter White

and Nancy Tartaglione

February 15, 2018 8:19am

Berlin Film Festival
European Film Market

The European Film Market kicked off today at the Berlin Film Festival under cold, cloudy skies and some confusion over whether to be cautious or optimistic or both. There are certainly a number of prestige projects that came together ahead of the market, more than we can recall in the past few years — and at a more easily-digestible pace with an extra week between Sundance and Berlin.


Buyers from all corners and distribution methods are here in force, although it remains to be seen how active the streaming giants will be after a relatively quiet Sundance. They have pipelines to fill, as do other hungry buyers who have not had much action at the past few markets.

There is plenty of action on offer on film, however, particularly from kick-ass women including Alicia Vikander in survivalist thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter, Jodie Foster in Hotel Artemis, Milla Jovovich in Hummingbird and Bai Ling’s The Fatal Contract.


Elsewhere, there are also plenty of stories that feature women in Noomi Rapace’s Angel Of Mine, Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts in Ophelia and Hilary Swank in I Am Mother, as well as an unusually high amount of biopics including Bloom and Endeavor Content’s Hugh Jackman-starrer The Frontrunner, whose footage we hear is terrific; and Mister Smith/Endeavor’s A Letter From Rosemary Kennedy with market it-girl Elisabeth Moss.

Gabrielle Stewart, managing director of HanWay Films, says, “Finally people are realizing the importance of the female audience.”
Here’s a selection of titles that will be looking to cut through the buzz in Potsdamer Platz:

>
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THE FRONTRUNNER – Director: Jason Reitman; Cast: Hugh Jackman. Story of the rise and fall of Gary Hart, who nearly became President until media reports surfaced of womanizing and an alleged affair. Bloom, which is handling international, and Endeavor Content, which has U.S. rights, will be showing a promo in Berlin.

Btw, Endeavor Content is a new subsidiary of WME-IMG and now functions fully as the arm which packages new film projects, etc. WME has also acquired the majority stake in BLOOM. Btw, Hugh's longtime agent Patrick Whitesell is Co-Chairman and Co-CEO for WME-IMG.


Excited to hear that the first footage of THE FRONT RUNNER is causing some excitement! And on the back of his back-to-back success with LOGAN and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, hopefully there will be very strong interest in the distribution rights for Hugh Jackman's next film!


Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BfOtzeig9hX

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BfZkh3LgNox

[jo]

Now that the 90th Oscars have been completed --

Speculations are now starting for the next year's hopefuls!

From early bird Reuters :


www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/now-that-the-shape-of-water-is-oscar-gold-which-film-is-going-to-win-in-2019/article38210488/

Herewith, the top 10 contenders for the 91st annual best-picture trophy, listed alphabetically – and at the earliest moment possible.

The Frontrunner

After a four-year absence from film, writer-director Jason Reitman returns this year with two movies – but while this spring's dark comedy Tully looks more like a showcase for regular collaborator Charlize Theron, his late-2018 drama The Frontrunner hints (or rather top-volume screams) at higher Oscar aspirations. Dramatizing U.S. Senator Gary Hart's 1988 sex-scandal-plagued presidential campaign, Reitman's film hits all the talking points, and features a stacked cast including Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga and J.K. Simmons.

It looks like there will be other biopic contenders ( Dick Cheney with Christian Bale/Neil Armstrong with Ryan Gosling/a reformed KuKluxKlan member with Sam Rockwell who won for Three Billboards).


I wonder what will be the political/cultural climate, particularly in America, towards the end of this year. That seems to have an increasing bearing on the choice of films to honor.

[jo]

The Front Runner still has no release date, except an indication that it will be released in 2018.

First Man ( re Neil Armstrong with Ryan Gosling will be released on October 12 while the Dick Cheney film with Christian Bale will have a rolling release, with wide release on December 21). The first seems to be aiming for festival time in North America ( Toronto and Telluride) while the Armstrong biopic will be released during the Christmas holidays.

Will The Front Runner aim for a festival premiere before it is released hopefully on a wide basis?


Jo

[israruth]

Jo, I remember seeing somewhere that The Frontrunner will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

[jo]

Great! Has that been announced or only speculated on? IMDB only has 2018 as the release year. They don't have an announced film distributor yet, though.


Jo

[jo]

The TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is scheduled from September 6- 16, 2018.

PRISONERS opened there and was voted the second most like/popular movie among festival entrants.

Telluride will hold its film festival on August 31 - September 3, 2018. Much smaller but also prestigious forerunner festival for award-bait movies. If I am not mistaken, Prisoners also showed up there in 2013.

Venice might also be holding its own glamorous Biennale at that time ( August 29-September 8, 2018) -- but THE FRONT RUNNER will likely not target that one to premiere the movie?

It looks like the Bale- and Gosling-led biopics will not show at the festivals? Although sometimes movies for later release dates do show up at festivals for their world premieres.

Jo

[jo]

The Front Runner is mentioned again as an award potential for 2019, if two-time Oscar nominee director Jason Reitman can rework his magic again --

decider.com/2018/03/06/2019-oscars-predictions/

The Frontrunner:
Two-time Best Director Jason Reitman (Juno; Up in the Air) directs the story of U.S. senator Gary Hart, whose 1988 bid for the Democratic nomination was derailed by a sex scandal. Hugh Jackman will play Hart, with Vera Farmiga as his wife and Sara Paxton as his mistress, Donna Rice. Reitman’s recent career has been a real rollercoaster, but he’s re-teaming with his Young Adult screenwriter Diablo Cody for the indie film Tully this spring, so perhaps he’ll get back on track.

[jo]

Another list which includes THE FRONT RUNNER as a potential candidate for award consideration --

www.screendaily.com/features/12-films-that-could-be-in-the-running-for-the-oscars-in-2019/5127235.article?referrer=RSS

The Front Runner (Bron Studios)

Also tapping into the political climate could be Jason Reitman’s tale of US Senator Gary Hart, whose campaign in 1988 to be the Democratic candidate for president was derailed by revelations of an adulterous affair. Hugh Jackman stars as the beleaguered politician alongside JK Simmons and Vera Farmiga as Hart’s wife Lee. Bloom is handling international sales on the project, which has yet to line up a US distributor.

Hope we get some news soon on whether it has been picked for US distribution rights.

[israruth]

The film might not get a U.S. distributor until the film is unveiled at the Toronto film festival.

[jo]

Or maybe Endeavor ( subsidiary of WME-IMG) is waiting for a top bid ? After all, it stars someone who led two big hits at the box office in the past season. Best time ever to look at another surprise Jackman film!

Aren't they calling on Fox Searchlight for possible inclusion in its lineup? Or like EDDIE THE EAGLE which drew the attention of FOX for domestic distribution ( it was Matthew Vaughn which produced it)?


Jo

[jo]

Unfortunately, Jeff Snider of Tracking Board does not include THE FRONT RUNNER in his so-called premature list of awards potential (but he goes on to predict likely candidates for Best Picture/Best Director/acting honors) --

www.tracking-board.com/super-premature-2019-oscar-nomination-predictions-because-you-know-youre-curious-about-black-panthers-chances/

I guess nothing much is known about how Jason Reitman is turning out THE FRONT RUNNER at this point. The only early positive word came from Deadline.com which said that " Bloom and Endeavor Content’s Hugh Jackman-starrer The Frontrunner, whose footage we hear is terrific"!



Jo

[carouselkathy]

Will it be in competition in Toronto?