James Gray‘s Paper Tiger, a standout this year’s Cannes Film Festival, will bow in theaters during the heart of the fall movie season, hinting at distributor Neon’s awards aspirations for the release.
With an Oscar-nominated cast and well-regarded writer-director at the helm, Paper Tiger is shaping up to be a major player in next year’s awards conversation. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
The Cast
The film reunites Marriage Story co-stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, this time playing in-laws rather than husband and wife. In Paper Tiger, the role of Johansson’s on-screen husband falls to Miles Teller.
The Plot
Set in 1986, the story finds New Jersey father Irwin (Teller) turning to his former-cop brother, Gary (Driver), in the hopes of making some quick money in a scheme that involves cleaning up Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal and the Russian mob. From there, things go about as well as you’d expect.
The Creative Team
Paper Tiger is the latest from James Gray, who has made a career out of exploring the darker sides of the world he knew growing up as a Russian Jew in New York City. His previous film, 2022’s Armageddon Time, was among the year’s best-reviewed features but fell short of attention from the Academy.
The Release Date
Neon is set to release Paper Tiger in select cities on Nov. 13, before expanding it nationwide on Nov. 20. The prime pre-Thanksgiving slot sits right in the middle of the fall movie season and should prime Paper Tiger for awards consideration.
The Awards Chances
While a perennial critical darling, Gray’s filmography has only earned one previous Oscar nomination — a Best Sound Mixing nod for Ad Astra. But with a distributor like Neon backing the film with an aggressive release date, the director’s fortunes may be about to change.
