Finally, a trailer for George Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat” was released this morning.
I was under the impression that there were just two Oscar-bait films left unscreened so far this year: “Napoleon” and “The Color Purple.” Maybe we can now add Clooney’s film into the mix?
Earlier this summer, Deadline reported that Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat” had received such high test screening scores that MGM decided to give it a coveted awards-bait release date on Christmas Day. The trailer makes it look like a crowd pleaser. The kind of mid-budget, adult-oriented film that rarely gets made these days.
The problem is that “The Boys in the Boat” hasn’t appeared at any of this year’s fall festivals, not even AFI which is where Clooney’s last directorial effort (“The Tender Bar”) was launched, to tepid reactions. People barely had this film on their radar until this morning’s trailer was released.
“The Boys in the Boat” is based on Daniel James Brown’s non-fiction bestseller about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team who competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.
The cast includes Joel Edgerton, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Callum Turner. As mentioned, it’s set to be released on Christmas Day. No word yet on when this’ll screen for press.
I liked Clooney’s earlier films as a director (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “The Ides of March”), but, as of late, he’s been struggling behind the camera with such duds as “Leatherheads,” “Suburbicon,” “The Monument’s Men,” “The Midnight Sky” and “Tender Bar.”