UPDATE: Just a day after I wrote about the buzz surrounding “Here,” Sony has given the film, what THR is calling, “a prime awards-season spot on the theatrical calendar.” The film will hit Los Angeles and New York theaters November 15, in limited release, before going wide November 27.
EARLIER: I keep hearing great things about Robert Zemeckis’ “Here,” starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Paul Bettany and, much like everything Zemeckis does these days, it’s steeped in the latest technological breakthrough.
Last year, the film’s screenwriter, Eric Roth, had mentioned to me, a few times, how proud he was about this film. Based on the test reactions, he might be right. According to my source, “Here” is one of the highest-scoring films in Sony’s history. It scored a 95 in the top two boxes and an “87 definite recommend”. They’re so confident about this one that they’re positioning it for Oscars this fall.
Yes, I very well remember the same hype occuring for Ron Howard’s “Thirteen Lives” back in 2022, with the trades reporting how it was testing through the roof. That’s why such news should always been taken with a major grain of salt, but, regardless, it still bodes well for Zemeckis and company.
“Here” is based on Richard McGuire’s graphic novel, and covers the events of a single room and its inhabitants spanning from the past to well into the future. Here’s a test reaction that was sent over to me, a few months back …
It’s an ambitious story, just one single perspective with fade ins/fade outs to change the time into the future or past and all about a single space of a living room in one house. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are de-aged (surprisingly flawless for something still in production) and Hanks is as good and reliable as always. Zemeckis gives all the heavy and emotional moments to Wright here and she delivers a fantastic performance. Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly are also really good, and both can totally steal a supporting actor nom. This feels like a Best Picture contender for me. It feels like a spiritual cousin to “Forrest Gump” with all the hopping through time and recounting important historical events of everyone who lives through this space and it’s definitely in the same home of films that Hanks used to make in the 90’s and stuff like “Big Fish” and “Life of Pi”; It’s a massive visual marvel.
In “Here,” Zemeckis is, again, attempting to be at the forefront of bleeding-edge technology as the film aims to use deepfake VFX to de-age actors with the help of effects studio Metaphysic. The technology will use “high-resolution photorealistic faceswaps and de-aging effects on top of actors’ performances live and in real-time without the need for further compositing or VFX work.”
This will be a reunion of sorts for Zemeckis, Hanks and Roth who haven’t worked on movie together in almost 30 years — the last time they teamed up together was for a little film called “Forrest Gump.”
I used to like Zemeckis, quite a bit, he was on a hot streak from 1980-2000 — “Used Cars,” “Romancing the Stone,” “Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Forrest Gump,” “Contact” and “Cast Away.” Hell, I even went along with the schlock horror of “What Lies Beneath.”
However, these last 20 some-odd years have been more hit and miss for Zemeckis. There have been some well-made films (“Flight,” “The Walk,” Allied”) but he’s also had a ton of duds (“Welcome to Marwen,” “The Polar Express,” “Beowulf,” “Pinocchio,” “The Witches,” “A Christmas Carol”).
Here’s hoping old Zemeckis, the one we knew a few decades ago, is back.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.