The Week in Trailers: ‘Ferrari’, ‘Napoleon’, ‘Saltburn’, ‘American Fiction’, ‘Poor Things’, and More
It’s been quite the week for trailers, and even though I covered Sony’s Anyone But You in a separate article, there are way too many trailers to pass on that came out this week. What’s interesting is that they are all related to the impending awards season and are scheduled to come out this fall — they also came out as the SAG-AFTRA strike talks hit an impasse and studios are on the verge of delaying a bunch of 2024 titles, Deadpool 3 being the first. Napoleon, Ferrari, Poor Things, Saltburn, and American Fiction are among several titles to have debuted a new trailer this past week.
Ferrari
Michael Mann’s new film raced into a few festivals over the past couple of months, getting very solid reviews — although perhaps not strong enough to be considered a real competitor for a Best Picture nomination by pundits yet. As more people see it and NEON starts putting together a full-on awards campaign, this may change. Adam Driver stars as the title character, with Penélope Cruz playing his wife and Shailene Woodley his mistress. The story focuses on a three-month stretch that changed the history of the company forever, back in 1957. Beware that most critics have pointed out this is more of a family drama than anything else — in case you are misled by the racing footage in the promo.
Napoleon
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is one of the big mysteries of the fall season. The film skipped all festivals, likely because the VFX weren’t ready, and there is little buzz so far around it beyond people just excited by the battle scenes and Ridley Scott teaming up with Joaquin Phoenix again. But this may change soon, as Sony Pictures is set to release the film in theaters in the US on November 22, before it streams on Apple TV Plus at a later date. Check out the new trailer for Napoleon:
Eileen
This film, by director William Oldroyd, was one of the highlights coming out of Sundance earlier this year. It hasn’t really been considered for awards so far, especially because NEON will likely be focused on Ferrari, but if the reception is solid enough that might change. The psychological thriller is set in a prison where Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho star) works, and where her life will change after meeting the new psychologist, played by Anne Hathaway. It comes out in limited release on December 1, before expanding wide the following week.
The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer’s new film has been one of the most anticipated pictures of the year for arthouse fans, and gathered a lot of buzz going into Cannes. The Zone of Interest follows the normal life of a Nazi family living next to Auschwitz. It’s light on plot, but heavy on themes and an actual message: How similar is our society really to the perpetrators of the biggest crime in the history of the world? I’ve seen the film, and thought it was fantastic — I should have a more detailed review coming out soon. Check out the new trailer below, the film comes out on December 15:
American Fiction
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut skyrocketed into most people’s Best Picture shortlists after winning the Audience Award at TIFF, pretty much out of nowhere. Jeffrey Wright stars as a book writer who can’t really sell because his work isn’t filled with the racial stereotypes members of the public expect from novels written by Black people. To prove that point, he exploits those same stereotypes to write a new novel that is instantly projected to become a bestseller. The film comes out in December:
Rustin
This is one of Netflix’s big awards plays, especially in the Best Actor category, as they hope Colman Domingo will at the very least get nominated with a good chance of winning. Director George C. Wolfe helms this story about the architect between 1963’s Washington civil rights march. It comes out on Netflix on November 17:
Faraway Downs
This one is an interesting story. Apparently, Baz Luhrmann went back to his 2008 film Australia during the pandemic and recut the footage into a six-part limited series. The reviews weren’t exactly glowing, but Luhrmann hopes he will win people over with this definitive version, which comes out on Hulu on November 26:
The Boys in the Boat
George Clooney is back in the director’s chair for The Boys in the Boat for MGM and Amazon Studios (his last film, The Tender Bar, was also set up there — and that one was actually pretty good). Joel Edgerton and Callum Turner star in this true story of the 1936 University of Washington rowing team as they competed for gold in the Summer Olympics in Berlin.
For All Mankind Season 4
The fourth season of one of Apple’s flagship shows, For All Mankind, is set to come out this November. It’s now been eight years since season 3, and the focus of the space program has turned into the “the capture and mining of extremely valuable, mineral-rich asteroids that could change the future of both Earth and Mars”, which serves as the backdrop for rising tensions between the people at the international base. The new season is set to start airing on Apple TV Plus on November 10:
Sly
Netflix continues with its trend of documentaries set around 80s action movie stars, after this year’s Arnold. The emotional doc gathered positive feedback from its Toronto International Film Festival premiere, and will come out on Netflix on November 3. Check out the trailer:
Poor Things
The latest trailer for Poor Things also debuted this week, giving us a new look at the new film by Yorgos Lanthimos, starring Emma Stone. The film, which I got to see recently, is excellent — albeit very unconventional and may not be for everybody. It’s set for a theatrical debut on December 8; check out the new promo:
Saltburn
Emerald Fennell’s directorial follow-up to Promising Young Woman will debut in theaters in limited release on November 17. It’s set in the high British society, and follows Barry Keoghan’s character as he gets invited to the luxurious estate by a classmate for a summer he’ll never forget. Reviews have been positive, even if expectations may have been higher. It’s still one of my most anticipated titles of the season (Promising Young Woman was my favorite film of 2020).
Nyad
Finally, Netflix has released the trailer for the new film by the Free Solo filmmaking duo, Nyad, which played really well at the fall festivals and could be a dark horse in the Best Picture nominations race. It’s apparently a crowd-pleaser and captures the emotional and inspiring journey of 60-year-old woman Diane Nyad who swam the 110-mile stretch between Florida and Cuba.
And strap in for next week, because the first trailer for Madame Web is rumored to come out on Monday, and most important of all, word on the street is that the first look at next May’s The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes should come out sooner rather than later.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
