There’s strong Oscar buzz for the Pablo Larraín-directed drama and its star, Natalie Portman, who portrays former First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days immediately following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
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On Monday at Toronto International Film Festival, Fox Searchlight acquired the Pablo Larraín-directed Jackie Onassis biopic and set an awards-friendly release date of December 9 (in select cities).
Fox Searchlight Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “Jackie”, directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim, from LD Entertainment. Yet the core of the film is formed by quiet, profoundly intimate moments: Jackie’s conversations with her children, her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard, also at the Festival in The Magnificent Seven), one of her aides (Greta Gerwig), journalist White (Billy Crudup), and a Catholic priest (John Hurt).
She sat down with Variety at Venice to explain what she and director, Pablo Larraín were attempting to achieve with the film. Jackie was as romantic a public figure as her husband, an outwardly poised partner who was placed under great scrutiny yet played her role with consummate grace. “Jackie was the most unknown of the known women of the 20th century”. The movie also earned Jackie writer Noah Oppenheim the award for the Best Screenplay at the festival.
With the film’s awards chances now in doubt, Fox Searchlight no doubt saw an opportunity available when Jackie secured positive notices.
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The picture seems right in the wheelhouse for FSL heads Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley; it remains to be seen how the distributor’s planned Oscar film, The Birth of a Nation, will fare in the heat of awards season, given the backlash over a 17-year old rape charge against writer/director/star/producer Nate Parker. “Led by an indelible performance from Natalie Portman and supported by a richly talented ensemble of actors and artists, the film is one we are thrilled to bring to audiences later this year.”.
