Steve McQueen's ‘Blitz' Set to World Premiere at 68th BFI London Film Festival

Is this a red flag?

Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” is set to have its world premiere at the 68th BFI London Film Festival. As I had previously reported, it’s skipping Telluride and Venice. They’re not even going to send this one to Toronto.

We also have our first images of the film, which can be seen above and below. The cast of the film includes Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Paul Weller and Harris Dickinson:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in east London, ensues on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.

Sounds like “Empire of the Sun” and “Hope and Glory”: war seen through the eyes of a child. That PG-13 rating now makes sense.

“Blitz” will release in select cinemas on November 1, before streaming globally on Apple TV+ starting on November 22. No studio has picked this one up for theatrical distribution … It looks like it’s just getting a 3-week theatrical bow before going to streaming.

So, why is this London premiere a potential red flag? Quite simply, and correct me if I’m wrong, no film has ever world premiered at that festival and gone on to nab an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. If a studio has what it suspects to be a bona fide great film, then it would give it a splashy bow at Venice and/or Telluride.