Apple Goes Prestige As The Banker Set To Close 2019 AFI Film Fest

The always awards-friendly AFI Film Fest already has its opener set with Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen & Slim.”  Today, the Hollywood based event revealed that George Nolfi’s “The Banker,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie, will close the festival on Nov. 21.  “The Banker” is set as Apple’s first theatrical release before eventually debuting on the company’s new Apple TV+ app.

In a statement from the American Film Insitute, Michael Lumpkin, Director of AFI Festivals, noted, “‘The Banker’ joins a remarkable group of films being released this year that openly confront centuries of racism and injustice in our country, while celebrating the brave individuals whose activism has created real change.”

According to an official synopsis, the film “centers on revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson), who devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garret’s wife Eunice (Nia Long), they train a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire – while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. Their success ultimately draws the attention of the federal government, which threatens everything the four have built.”

Nolfi is best known for writing and directing 2011’s “The Adjustment Bureau” as well as writing “Ocean’s Twelve” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” His last release was 2016’s Bruce Lee inspired “Birth of a Dragon” which was a bomb at the domestic box office.

Apple is set to open “The Banker” theatrically in limited release on Dec. 6. It will then debut on Apple TV+ sometime in January, 2020.

AFI has not revealed the other galas or screenings for the festival, but it has a reputation for “sneaking” or providing last minute premieres for awards season players over the past decade. Films such as “Selma,” “American Sniper” and “The Fighter” debuted at AFI before finding Oscar glory. Potential premieres or sneaks this year include Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell,” Jay Roach’s “Bombshell” and Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women.”

AFI FEST 2019 runs from November 14-21.