Producers are usually eager to get their films into prestigious film festivals as quickly as possible, so they can start getting distribution locked down, or push awards season campaigns. This spring at Cannes, both Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” and Ruben Ostlund’s “The Square” screened in unfinished versions. In fact, Ramsay’s film was so fresh, it didn’t even have end credits ready for the festival. Meanwhile, Ostlund is busy in the cutting room making his latest film longer. However, sometimes the race to hit a deadline just doesn’t work out.
Screen Daily reports that the Toronto International Film Festival will have one less movie in the program, as “The Catcher Was A Spy” has been pulled from the lineup. Directed by Ben Lewin (“The Sessions”), and starring Guy Pearce, Sienna Miller, Mark Strong, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Jeff Daniels, Connie Nielsen, and Shea Whigham, the drama about professional baseball player Moe Berg, who was also a spy during WWII, just won’t be ready in time, as it’s still making its way through post-production.
It’s unclear if any effort will be made to try and get the picture locked for the end of the year, but considering there’s no distributor, and presumably no awards race to consider, my guess is that Sundance and/or Berlin are probably where you can expect this to pop up once its done. At least for critics going to TIFF, it’s one less movie to worry about.
