There’s not much left to be screened as far as the Oscar race goes. Titles include James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire & Ash,” John M. Chu’s “Wicked: For Good,” Bradley Cooper’s “Is This Thing On?”—maybe Craig Brewer’s “Song Sung Blue” — and most enticing of all, Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.”
Now, Safdie’s film, which test-screened a month ago, is being positioned by A24 as a major player. It’s also the indie studio’s most expensive film ever, rumored to have cost $90M, and with a Christmas release set, it’s clear that hopes are high.
About that screening, I’m told the cut shown was around three hours, hinting at an immensely ambitious film. Word from someone in the room was clear: don’t expect your “typical Safdie” joint. This isn’t “Good Time,” and it’s definitely not “Uncut Gems,” although there are hints of some of the more chaotic elements seen in those films.
That early cut suggests Marty Supreme could end up in the three-hour range — though it’s worth noting that test screenings often run longer than the final version. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the hint alone points to one of the season’s lengthier Oscar hopefuls.
For context: James Cameron has already suggested that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will be slightly longer than ‘The Way of Water,’ which ran a massive 3 hours and 12 minutes. The only other contender even approaching that territory is “One Battle After Another” at 2 hours and 41 minutes.
A “Marty Supreme” trailer was released earlier this month, but it played in a more “conventional” fashion, though A24 is clearly reluctant to reveal too much of the plot. The trailer was good—sweeping, in fact—but I’m told it doesn’t fully capture the tone of the film, which is exceptionally ambitious.
Set in 1953, “Marty Supreme” tells the story of a Ping Pong champion. It is said to be a “fictional work,” though the life of Marty Reisman served as a template. The cinematographer, Darius Khondji, has stated that the film, written by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, has around 240 speaking roles — which I still find hard to believe.
The cast is also delightfully eccentric, including Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Fran Drescher, Tyler, The Creator, Abel Ferrara, Penn Jillette, Kevin O’Leary, and Sandra Bernhard.
Although “Marty Supreme” is expected to entirely skip festivals, I hinted earlier this month that A24 was tempted to slot the film into the New York Film Festival lineup as a “surprise screening.” Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen, but it was solid intel, and discussions have taken place about how to potentially include the film.
Regardless, it’s pretty wild that Josh and Benny Safdie—masters of gutter poetry—have split, and are now set to release solo, A24-backed sports biopics this fall. I hope it works out for them, but as Ethan Coen has shown us, sometimes that could be a very bad idea.