2023 Festivals/Awards Thread

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The first acquisition out of Toronto is a very ironic one: Netflix landed Anna Kendrick's Woman of the Hour a mere 17 months after they backed away from the project.

[Buscemi2]

I was sure Hit Man would be the first picked up. Early word is surprisingly really good.

Related to Toronto, it looks Next Goal Wins is the flop of the festival. Maybe I'll stop seeing the trailer before every 3-4 movies I see.

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Another film has been picked up before Hit Man in Toronto: A24 has picked up the US rights to Sing Sing starring Colman Domingo and Paul Raci-which is among the best reviewed films that debuted at the festival. It'll be released sometime next year.

[Buscemi2]

Who wants to bet some foolish distributor picks up Poolman because it's so bad?

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter is favoring American Fiction to win the Audience Award. Even if it wins, I can't see it contending for Oscars, due to Amazon/MGM's many potential contenders, it coming out the same day as the similarly-aimed Rustin, and the lack of success of dark comedies with wide audiences.

It reminds me of Till, which got great reviews and awards buzz but failed to get any nominations.

[transformers2]

I'd happily bet against A24, Neon or Bleecker Street picking it up. Vertical, Saban or RLJE on the other hand...

[Buscemi2]

Yeah, Poolman has Vertical written all over it. This is the same company that released Music and did an awards campaign for it two years ago.

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Toronto Award Winners
People's Choice Award: American Fiction
People's Choice Award, First Runner Up: The Holdovers
People's Choice Award, Second Runner Up: The Boy and the Heron
People's Choice Award: Documentaries: Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make Believe
Documentary First Runner Up: Summer Qamp
Documentary Second Runner Up: Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness: Dicks: The Musical
Midnight Madness First Runner Up: Kill
Midnight Madness Second Runner Up: Hell of a Summer
Platform Prize: Dear Jassi

[Buscemi2]

Interesting that Dicks: The Musical won Midnight Madness, given how reviews weren't very good. But then again, it seems to have been exclusively designed to be a cult film and nothing else.

And it seems like audiences weren't as receptive as critics were on some of the titles, as The Holdovers to me looks rather generic. I would have figured something like Hit Man, The Burial, or Sing Sing would have placed over it.

Next Goal Wins not placing in a festival that loves Waititi pretty much confirms audiences will be as indifferent to it as critics were. I don't want to know how much Disney spent on it, between the reshoots, multiple delays, and the ad campaign that seems to have been going for a year.

[transformers2]

And it seems like audiences weren't as receptive as critics were on some of the titles, as The Holdovers to me looks rather generic. I would have figured something like Hit Man, The Burial, or Sing Sing would have placed over.

Not necessarily. There's just not enough space on the podium to honor every movie people responded to

[transformers2]

A distribution deal for Hit Man is finally complete: Netflix shelled out $20 mil-which makes it the biggest deal of the year so far-to acquire the rights for its US, UK, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam release. No word on a release date yet.

[Buscemi2]

The Hollywood Reporter pretty much expected it to be a streaming title. Spring seems like the best bet for it to come out as I don't think they'll be pushing for awards.