TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 7
Only five weeks until we find out with certainty what will play at TFF #53. Here's a reminder of what MTFB was predicting last week:
1) The Debut
2) Elsinore
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
6) A Long Winter
7) Minotaur
8) Fjord
9) Everest: The Other Side
10) Gentle Monster
11) Tenzig
12) Tender Loving Care
13) Bucking Fastard
14) Fatherland
15) The Story of Documentary Film
Other possibilities: Behemoth! Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang.
And here's your updated "Bets":
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
6) A Long Winter
7) Fjord
8) Minotaur
9) Everest: The Other Side
10) Tender Loving Care
11) Gentle Monster
12) Tenzig
13) Bucking Fastard
14) Fatherland
15) The Story of Documentary Film
Other possibilities: Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang, The Unknown, Sense and Sensibility.
WHO'S GOT WHAT-DISTRIBUTORS-AMAZON-MGM AND SEARCHLIGHT
We're continuing to look at distribution companies that have a robust presence at Telluride over the last five years. Today we look at both Amazon-MGM and then Searchlight.
AMAZON-MGM
Here are films distributed by Amazon-MGM at Telluride the last five fests:
2021: Encounter
2022: Wildcat, Goodnight Oppy
2023: Saltburn, Cassandro
2024: Nickel Boys
2025: Man on the Run
As I looked through the films Amazon-MGM might screen at Telluride these seemed the most possible:
Madden
Verity
I had been thinking that I Play Rocky was an outside Telluride shot but its World Premiere status at Toronto nuked that notion.
Chances:
Madden 35%
Verity 25%
SEARCHLIGHT
As for Searchlight, two films seem most "in the mix" with the reveal last Tuesday that Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! will be the New York Film Festival's Centerpiece program as a World Premiere and thus not appearing at Telluride.
Wild Horse Nine (M. McDonagh)
Sweetsick (A. Birch)
McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine seems to be Amazon-MGM's big push this fall for awards season. That makes sense as McDonagh's last two films ( Three Billboard and Banshees of Inisherin) earned 16 nominations. Wild Horse Nine certainly has the pedigree to be a film that fests are strongly pursuing this year.
Alice Birch's Sweetsick is reportedly in post-production with various sources suggesting either a late 2026 release or early 2027.
Chances for either of these films for a TFF #53 play:
Wild Horse Nine 50%
Sweetsick 20%
IMAGE OF ELSINORE
We got a first look from Focus Features of Andrew Scott in Elsinore which is very likely World Premiering at Telluride. Here that is:
IMDb description:
"A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London."
We found out yesterday that Elsinore will open the BFI/London Film Festival in October.
Focus has announced a Nov. 20th release date for the film.
MIKE LEIGH...MAY BE DONE
A number of sources indicate that Mike Leigh's upcoming Tender Loving Care may be his last. TLC looks likely to screen at TFF #53.
Indiewire reported on Tuesday"
"British filmmaker Mike Leigh, one of the few directors to have won both the Venice Golden Lion and the Cannes Palme d’Or, told IndieWire that his upcoming feature, “Tender Loving Care,” may be his final film."
Leigh revealed a diagnosis of a disease that attacks a person's musculature.
TODAY'S CORRECTION
In last Monday's post I referenced an a analysis from The Playlist that included some speculation that Possible Love could play Telluride. However, Toronto lists it as a North American Premiere which, absent some premiere status snafu, would mean it will not play Telluride.
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