The autumn film festivals are approaching under the shadow of a writers' strike and the possibility of actors joining the strike. Nonetheless, the 2023 midway point has been reached, and there is still plenty more promise ahead.
Swati Bhat
The lineups are already making their way around. So far, we know that Venice will host Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things" starring Emma Stone, the pair's follow-up to the Oscar-nominated "The Favourite" (2018). The Searchlight film, a surrealist science-fiction romance based on an adaptation of Alasdair Grey's novel, stars Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Christopher Abbott, and Margaret Qualley. It may be their season's pony.
Meanwhile, two highly awaited biopics will be released at the Lido - director Michael Mann's take on Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari, dubbed "Ferrari" and starring Adam Driver has aroused attention. Simultaneously, Sofia Coppola returns with "Priscilla," an adaption of Elvis Presley's biography starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi.
Pablo Larrain's buzzy Chilean contender "El Conde," rumored to be an all-around contender, has sparked interest, especially as his first picture since "Spencer" (2021), which garnered a nomination for Kristen Stewart.
We are already tracking best picture contenders such as Sony Pictures' animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," A24's love story "Past Lives," and Amazon Studios' immensely entertaining "Air" beginning in the first half of 2023.
Of course, there are the Cannes standouts — Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," Jonathan Glazer's "The Zone of Interest," Todd Haynes' "May December," and Justine Triet's Palme d'Or-winning "Anatomy of a Fall" — already in the running.
The updated overall best picture charts are available on the Oscar prediction page, along with revised charts prior to the autumn festivals.
Jessica Chastain, fresh off two Tony nominations and in the midst of an Emmy campaign in which she is presently the front-runner, will make a stop in Italy with "Memory," writer and director Michel Franco's first English-language movie. With an unclear plot and a cast that includes Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever, and Josh Charles, it's an eagerly anticipated watching.