Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
03-02-09 | 05:04 PM
#1
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Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
From Variety:
Alexander Payne is putting the finishing touches on the social satire “Downsizing,” a script about small people, and has put together a big-name cast.
Paul Giamatti, Sacha Baron Cohen and Reese Witherspoon have all committed to star in the film, which would likely land at Fox Searchlight, where Payne has a first-look deal.
Giamatti, who previously teamed with the director on “Sideways,” is on board to star as a man low on money who decides he can have a much nicer life if he undergoes a process to shrink himself.
Witherspoon, also a Payne alum, whose career took off after starring in “Election,” would play a woman Giamatti meets on his journey as a small person. Cohen would play a pint-sized foreigner.
There are no deals in place for the three principals, and no negotiations will take place until Payne finishes his screenplay, which he is penning with Jim Taylor. Jim Burke is producing alongside Payne.
Unlike previous Payne pics, “Downsizing” would require considerable special effects and could push the budget out of Searchlight’s realm.
Paul Giamatti, Sacha Baron Cohen and Reese Witherspoon have all committed to star in the film, which would likely land at Fox Searchlight, where Payne has a first-look deal.
Giamatti, who previously teamed with the director on “Sideways,” is on board to star as a man low on money who decides he can have a much nicer life if he undergoes a process to shrink himself.
Witherspoon, also a Payne alum, whose career took off after starring in “Election,” would play a woman Giamatti meets on his journey as a small person. Cohen would play a pint-sized foreigner.
There are no deals in place for the three principals, and no negotiations will take place until Payne finishes his screenplay, which he is penning with Jim Taylor. Jim Burke is producing alongside Payne.
Unlike previous Payne pics, “Downsizing” would require considerable special effects and could push the budget out of Searchlight’s realm.
03-02-09 | 11:18 PM
#3
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Downsizing (Alexander Payne): Giamatti, Witherspoon & Sacha Baron Cohen
Same. Just rewatched Election last week.
01-08-15 | 04:07 PM
#4
Downsizing (D: Alexander Payne) S: Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon
EXCLUSIVE: Wild star Reese Witherspoon will star with Matt Damon in Downsizing, the next film from Alexander Payne. The pic was scripted by Payne with Jim Taylor, with whom Payne shared the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Sideways. They partner in Ad Hominem Enterprises, and their scripting collaborations also include About Schmidt. The film is a social satire in which a guy realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself. Witherspoon’s star making role as she transitioned from child actress to adulthood came in the Payne-directed satire Election.
The timing is the tricky thing here for Witherspoon, who’s squarely in the Oscar mix for her performance as star and producer of Wild. Damon first will do another installment of the Bourne franchise for Universal, and then Downsizing will happen. Witherspoon is repped by CAA and LBI.
The timing is the tricky thing here for Witherspoon, who’s squarely in the Oscar mix for her performance as star and producer of Wild. Damon first will do another installment of the Bourne franchise for Universal, and then Downsizing will happen. Witherspoon is repped by CAA and LBI.
I was just wondering if Witherspoon and Payne were ever going to work together again.
01-08-15 | 06:01 PM
#6
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Alexander Payne? Matt Damon? man wants to shrink himself? This already sounds better than Ant-Man.
01-08-15 | 06:37 PM
#7
DVD Talk Hero
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Man what did big name indie producers do before Megan Ellison? 
01-08-15 | 09:44 PM
#8
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Ever since Citizen Ruth and Election, I have yet to be impressed by Payne. Not that his films suck, but I just don't get all the praise. I'll still check this out.
01-08-15 | 09:59 PM
#9
DVD Talk Hero
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
I thought The Descendants was wonderful but I agree that his other highly rated films have fallen flat for me.
01-09-15 | 12:38 AM
#11
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01-09-15 | 09:17 AM
#12
01-09-15 | 09:26 AM
#13
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
EXCLUSIVE: Annapurna Pictures has stepped up to finance and produce the Alexander Payne-directed Downsizing, a film which will go into production in early 2016. It will start production with a killer cast. In addition to Matt Damon and Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles, the film will also star Alec Baldwin, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Sudeikis.
When Deadline yesterday scooped that Wild star Witherspoon would re-team with her Election director, it became a mystery where such a well-cast movie was going to end up. I’d thought it was Fox. There’s plenty of time to find a distributor, but the film now has its funding and Megan Ellison’s production/finance company has added another solid prestige film to its slate. The label is in the Oscar mix with the Bennett Miller-directed Foxcatcher.
Baldwin is shooting the NFL concussion drama at Sony that stars Will Smith, after he completed Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes film, Cameron Crowe’s untitled film and Mission: Impossible 5; Harris is coming off Gone Girl and is hosting the Oscars; Sudeikis is coming off Horrible Bosses 2.
Ellison joins Jim Burke, Payne and Jim Taylor as producers. Payne and Taylor wrote the script, a social satire in which a guy realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself. The film won’t begin production until next year because Damon will be busy reprising his Jason Bourne role for Paul Greengrass and Universal Pictures. The plan is for Downsizing to be released for Christmas 2017.
When Deadline yesterday scooped that Wild star Witherspoon would re-team with her Election director, it became a mystery where such a well-cast movie was going to end up. I’d thought it was Fox. There’s plenty of time to find a distributor, but the film now has its funding and Megan Ellison’s production/finance company has added another solid prestige film to its slate. The label is in the Oscar mix with the Bennett Miller-directed Foxcatcher.
Baldwin is shooting the NFL concussion drama at Sony that stars Will Smith, after he completed Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes film, Cameron Crowe’s untitled film and Mission: Impossible 5; Harris is coming off Gone Girl and is hosting the Oscars; Sudeikis is coming off Horrible Bosses 2.
Ellison joins Jim Burke, Payne and Jim Taylor as producers. Payne and Taylor wrote the script, a social satire in which a guy realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself. The film won’t begin production until next year because Damon will be busy reprising his Jason Bourne role for Paul Greengrass and Universal Pictures. The plan is for Downsizing to be released for Christmas 2017.
01-09-15 | 06:45 PM
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Shrinking?! Payne has never done anything fantasy or sci-fi before. Could be interesting.
08-30-17 | 06:51 AM
#15
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
<iframe width="605" height="340" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bkadMe_Iqs4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
08-30-17 | 10:37 AM
#16
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Early reviews: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/downsizing
08-30-17 | 11:39 AM
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From: Conducting miss-aisle drills and listening to their rock n roll
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
1. I'm so sick of previews for trailers.
2. That clip made me less interested because it told me nothing. Like I'm dumber now than when it began.
3. I love Talking Heads, but use of overly familiar pop song does not help sell your film
I look forward to 9/12 when the real trailer drops. I expect nothing less than full Salisbury Hill.
2. That clip made me less interested because it told me nothing. Like I'm dumber now than when it began.
3. I love Talking Heads, but use of overly familiar pop song does not help sell your film
I look forward to 9/12 when the real trailer drops. I expect nothing less than full Salisbury Hill.
09-12-17 | 05:29 AM
#18
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
<iframe width="605" height="340" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UCrBICYM0yM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
09-12-17 | 03:18 PM
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Looks stupid but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see it.
Well Played Marketing Dept. and Trailer Editor. Well played..
Well Played Marketing Dept. and Trailer Editor. Well played..
09-12-17 | 03:23 PM
#20
DVD Talk Hero
re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
No upskirt jokes = no sale
09-12-17 | 05:32 PM
#21
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Honey I Shrunk the Kids: Fiscally Responsible Adult Edition
I'll be watching it.
I'll be watching it.
09-13-17 | 11:19 AM
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Great concept but meandering execution - saw it at TIFF yesterday. It has some great scenes but at 135 minutes, it is bloated and feels like 3 movies smacked together. Has a lot of big ideas but doesn't quite do justice to them and Damon is fairly flat as the lead. Trailer doesn't hint at some of the directions this movie goes, which is great but also may mislead people a bit. I love Alexander Payne but this is definitely in the lower tier of his works.
09-13-17 | 12:07 PM
#24
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
Saw that same second screening of this at TIFF yesterday, and don't mind hinting a bit harder at some of those other directions the trailer leaves out, partly out of frustration. Great to see a unique voice like Payne's inform a sci-if piece. It's a bit long but always engaging, and I think it's at least as good as some of his other films, though not necessarily his best.
The most pleasant surprise for me was discovering that Hong Chau is actually the co-star of the film, and not Kristen Wiig. Chau gives the film its heart more than Damon does, and at least as much of its humour as Waltz as Damon's insouciant eurotrash neighbor, and it's sad that neither she nor her major plot line nor her excellent performance get virtually any time in that trailer posted earlier. I get that they want to hold back some plot turns, but such a move has the potential to feel like yet more fear of giving Asian-American performers their full due: she's essentially the second lead, on screen longer than Wiig and Waltz (the latter of whom is nonetheless hilarious) but obviously the studio marketing 'bots can still find feeble reasons in the 21st century to tread lightly around
Hopefully subsequent trailers can be a little more revealing.
Chau affects a tart Vietnamese accent that will probably sound a bit too effortless to those who know she hasn't got one in real life, but I'm sure she honed her mimicry naturally as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, and she sidesteps easy stereotyping by incorporating it into a thoughtful, funny and pragmatic character, and one arguably more likeable than the leading man!
It was also great seeing Udo Kier in a substantial role. I haven't seen any final posters, but by rights he should be billed fifth.
There's a scene in the trailer of little people "tapping" a full-sized Absolut bottle that I really don't remember seeing in the movie. Perhaps I looked away briefly.
The most pleasant surprise for me was discovering that Hong Chau is actually the co-star of the film, and not Kristen Wiig. Chau gives the film its heart more than Damon does, and at least as much of its humour as Waltz as Damon's insouciant eurotrash neighbor, and it's sad that neither she nor her major plot line nor her excellent performance get virtually any time in that trailer posted earlier. I get that they want to hold back some plot turns, but such a move has the potential to feel like yet more fear of giving Asian-American performers their full due: she's essentially the second lead, on screen longer than Wiig and Waltz (the latter of whom is nonetheless hilarious) but obviously the studio marketing 'bots can still find feeble reasons in the 21st century to tread lightly around
Spoiler:
Hopefully subsequent trailers can be a little more revealing.
Chau affects a tart Vietnamese accent that will probably sound a bit too effortless to those who know she hasn't got one in real life, but I'm sure she honed her mimicry naturally as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, and she sidesteps easy stereotyping by incorporating it into a thoughtful, funny and pragmatic character, and one arguably more likeable than the leading man!
It was also great seeing Udo Kier in a substantial role. I haven't seen any final posters, but by rights he should be billed fifth.
There's a scene in the trailer of little people "tapping" a full-sized Absolut bottle that I really don't remember seeing in the movie. Perhaps I looked away briefly.
Last edited by Brian T; 09-13-17 at 12:18 PM.
09-13-17 | 12:21 PM
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re: Downsizing (2017, D: Alexander Payne) S: Damon, Wiig, Waltz, Chau
^I will confirm that the "tapping the absolut" is not in the movie. Hong Chau is the highlight for sure, I absolutely loved her and she has a great monologue towards the end of the movie.