Earlier in the week, Variety reported that Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” which was rejected by Cannes, was also not going to Venice in September. What’s going on with this film? Is it that bad? Now I’m thinking a London Film Festival world premiere is a high possibility.
Regardless, this Venice rejection has gotten Bleecker Street to delay the film’s originally planned October 18 date, and now “Hard Truths” is set to open on January 10, 2025.
Leigh, who recently turned 81, started shooting “Hard Truths” in May 2023 and, I was told, production wrapped in August of that year. Leigh’s latest, his 23rd film, features a mostly black cast and “will explore family relationships in the post-pandemic world”.
As mentioned, the aim was for a big festival premiere — Leigh’s films have predominantly screened at Cannes and Venice — but that’s backfired. His last one, 2018’s “Peterloo,” was infamously rejected by Cannes and instead premiered at Venice. That will sadly not be the case with “Hard Truths.”