There were few films anyone would have guessed would open the 2014 Venice Film Festival and at the top of the list would have been Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu‘s Birdman with probably Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Inherent Vice coming in a distant second. Fox Searchlight seems ready to unleash this film on the world in a big way, most likely with showings at both Telluride and Toronto as well as Venice as excitement among the movie blogosphere is clearly high after the release of that first trailer (see below).
Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.
Along with Keaton, the film co-stars Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough and Amy Ryan and will be hitting theaters shortly after its fall festival run on October 17.
The Venice festival kicks off on August 27 with Telluride beginning August 29 and Toronto starting on September 4. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from both fests very shortly.
Now here’s that first trailer for Birdman to help you get reacquainted.
