The Weinstein Company has released the firstLiontrailer. The film is based on the true story of a man who was separated from his family as a child and as an adult goes looking for them with the help of Google Earth. I suppose if he tried to find them with Bing the film would be a tragedy.
Lionis the film The Weinstein Company is banking on as their Oscar picture this year. It’s set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is pretty much a required destination if you want to win Best Picture (the only film to buck the trend in the last ten years isBirdman, which played at NYFF but not TIFF). IfLiondoesn’t connect with audiences, then the only other films they really have a shot with is Stephen Gaghan’sGoldor John Lee Hancock’sThe Founder, but both of those open late in December. You can have a film open in the summer likeMad Max: Fury Roador at the very end of the year likeThe Revenant, but at the end of the day, the film with the Best Picture trophy is the one that played TIFF—Spotlight.
That’s why connecting with audiences at TIFF is so important, and judging by this trailer,Lionmight hit all the right buttons or it may be too sentimental. I’m very curious to see how this one turns out.
Check out the trailer forLionbelow. The film opens November 25th, and starsDev Patel,Rooney Mara,Nicole Kidman,David Wenham, andSunny Pawar.
Here’s the official synopsis forLion:
Five-year-old Saroo gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of Kilometers across India, away from home and family. Saroo must learn to survive alone in Kolkata, before ultimately being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, he sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home.
