May 11, 2011

Tradecraft: TWC Picks Up Newest Movie From OSS 117 Team

The Artist is not a spy movie, but it's one I'm very eager to see!  This is the next movie from the director/star team of Michel Hazanavicius and Jean Dujardin, a duo who should be very familiar to spy fans from their two OSS 117 spoof movies.  I love those movies and, in my book, these guys can do no wrong!  Looks like The Weinstein Company feels the same way, because Deadline reports that they've snatched up this silent, black and white dramady in the first big acquisition deal of this year's Cannes Film Festival.  They must be pretty confident in it, too, because besides shelling out a seven-figure minimum guarantee, TWC plans to release The Artist during Oscar season this fall!  According to the trade blog, the film takes place in 1927 Hollywood and "focuses on a silent movie star whose career seems about to be ended because of the arrival of the talkies. At the same time, a pretty young extra sees the new format as an opportunity to launch her star."  Dujardin's OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies co-star (and Hazanavicius' wife) Bernice Bejo co-stars, along with John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller.  I've been looking forward to this since I first heard about it last summer, and I'm so glad to know that it's got a US distributor lined up!  Dujardin is not only a master of comic timing, but also of exaggerated facial expressions, so I expect he'll shine in a silent movie.  Plus, it's a good way for the French-speaker to make a big splash with international audiences.

Read my film review of OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies here.
Read my DVD review of OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies here.
Read my film review of OSS 117: Lost in Rio here.
Read my DVD review of OSS 117: Lost in Rio here.

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