Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
#1
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Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has come out on top in a red-hot auction for the film version of J.D. Vance’s lauded bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, which Ron Howard is directing and The Shape Of Water co-writer Vanessa Taylor is adapting.
Netflix will fully finance the pic to the tune of $45M. There were multiple high net worth backers in the mix and many other admirers but Netflix’s offer blew rivals away, I understand. By almost double. Not all of the $45M will go on production. A fair whack of that will go on fees. I gather there is a theatrical allowance here which could see the release potentially play out Roma-style. CAA brokered the pact, which is not part of this week’s Sundance deal-making.
Howard is directing and producing with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer and the company’s Karen Lunder. Julie Oh is exec producer The idea is to shoot later this year but cast has yet to be set.
Imagine won the book rights in another heated auction back in 2017. Vance’s memoir (Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, to give it its full title), a bestseller for 74 weeks, is a critically revered account of growing up in the Rust Belt and a personal analysis of the white underclass, race and privilege in America. Vance, raised poor among working-class “hillbillies,” explores his childhood and family struggles as they navigate drug addiction, and social and economic challenges. Supported by his larger-than-life grandmother, he developed a deep appreciation for education that laid the foundation for him to rise out of poverty and its cultural restraints. The film has inevitably become a passion project for Howard and it is rounding into good shape now.
Multi-Oscar winner Howard is currently in post-production on Luciano Pavarotti doc Pavarotti for White Horse Pictures. Oscar nominee Taylor, a writer and co-producer on Game of Thrones, also penned Divergent and Hope Springs.
At a time when questions abound in the indie film financing space, Netflix continues to surge and is coming off a record Oscar nominations haul and a record viewership for movie Bird Box. The streaming giant remains a boon for those in business with them but also a challenge for financiers unable to compete at their level.
While a deal of this size is unlikely to go down at either Sundance or the EFM, it comes as a reminder that when Netflix gets hot for something, there’s little that can hold it back.
Netflix will fully finance the pic to the tune of $45M. There were multiple high net worth backers in the mix and many other admirers but Netflix’s offer blew rivals away, I understand. By almost double. Not all of the $45M will go on production. A fair whack of that will go on fees. I gather there is a theatrical allowance here which could see the release potentially play out Roma-style. CAA brokered the pact, which is not part of this week’s Sundance deal-making.
Howard is directing and producing with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer and the company’s Karen Lunder. Julie Oh is exec producer The idea is to shoot later this year but cast has yet to be set.
Imagine won the book rights in another heated auction back in 2017. Vance’s memoir (Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, to give it its full title), a bestseller for 74 weeks, is a critically revered account of growing up in the Rust Belt and a personal analysis of the white underclass, race and privilege in America. Vance, raised poor among working-class “hillbillies,” explores his childhood and family struggles as they navigate drug addiction, and social and economic challenges. Supported by his larger-than-life grandmother, he developed a deep appreciation for education that laid the foundation for him to rise out of poverty and its cultural restraints. The film has inevitably become a passion project for Howard and it is rounding into good shape now.
Multi-Oscar winner Howard is currently in post-production on Luciano Pavarotti doc Pavarotti for White Horse Pictures. Oscar nominee Taylor, a writer and co-producer on Game of Thrones, also penned Divergent and Hope Springs.
At a time when questions abound in the indie film financing space, Netflix continues to surge and is coming off a record Oscar nominations haul and a record viewership for movie Bird Box. The streaming giant remains a boon for those in business with them but also a challenge for financiers unable to compete at their level.
While a deal of this size is unlikely to go down at either Sundance or the EFM, it comes as a reminder that when Netflix gets hot for something, there’s little that can hold it back.
#2
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re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Amy Adams to star:
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/a...ix-1203181222/
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/a...ix-1203181222/
#3
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re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Glenn Close has joined Amy Adams in Ron Howard and Netflix’s anticipated Hillbilly Elegy movie.
#4
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
J.D. Vance (Gabriel Basso), a former Marine from southern Ohio and current Yale Law student, is on the verge of landing his dream job when a family crisis forces him to return to the home he’s tried to forget. J.D. must navigate the complex dynamics of his Appalachian family, including his volatile relationship with his mother Bev (Amy Adams), who’s struggling with addiction. Fueled by memories of his grandmother Mamaw (Glenn Close), the resilient and whip-smart woman who raised him, J.D. comes to embrace his family’s indelible imprint on his own personal journey.
#5
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
not sure how I feel about seeing Amy Adams looking like that...
#6
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Glenn Close looks like every grandmother I ever knew growing up in 80s-90s Alabama. I just hope that J.D. Vance’s personal politics don’t seep through from the source material too much.
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JeffTheAlpaca (11-28-20)
#8
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
#9
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
She should have gotten a Oscar for the Wife
#11
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Bingo.
Reviews are coming out and it is getting skewered. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hillbilly_elegy
Reviews are coming out and it is getting skewered. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hillbilly_elegy
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Dr. DVD (11-11-20)
#12
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Ron Howard hasn't directed a film I liked since Frost/Nixon....but I may watch this because of Amy.
#13
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
This is getting absolutely wrecked by critics.
#14
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
from a review on the Rotten tomatoes website
"This year's 'Cats,' except with screaming rednecks instead of singing strays."
"This year's 'Cats,' except with screaming rednecks instead of singing strays."
#15
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
I don't get the bad reviews at all. I watched it tonight and it's not terrible. While it's no Oscar level movie, I'd give it a 7 or 7.5/10 rating. Richard Roeper loved it! https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-...nn-close-movie
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
I thought it was great and a moving story.
Of course it is not a Marvel movie so the critics will bash it at rotten tomatoes.
Maybe the cheesy scene was the roller skating to Bananarama and they could have taken that out.
Give the Oscars to Amy and Glen.
Of course it is not a Marvel movie so the critics will bash it at rotten tomatoes.
Maybe the cheesy scene was the roller skating to Bananarama and they could have taken that out.
Give the Oscars to Amy and Glen.
Last edited by JeffTheAlpaca; 11-28-20 at 06:21 PM.
#18
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
I wonder what the excuse is for the trash direct to video movies he watches.
The movie wasn't very good. It's all surface level. There's no nuance. It is just a bunch of screaming and lashing out by walking stereotypes. It brings no insight to something that is a major problem plaguing this region of the country. It would be a shame if this is what Adams finally wins an Oscar for.
The movie wasn't very good. It's all surface level. There's no nuance. It is just a bunch of screaming and lashing out by walking stereotypes. It brings no insight to something that is a major problem plaguing this region of the country. It would be a shame if this is what Adams finally wins an Oscar for.
#19
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
This was good. Love it or hate it, I'd put it beside a movie like The Help.
I tend to appreciate Ron Howard movies more than most.
I tend to appreciate Ron Howard movies more than most.
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JeffTheAlpaca (11-28-20)
#21
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
I have a love/hate relationship with Ron Howard's films. I hated "Willow", "Far and Away", "Edtv", "Backdraft", "Ransom" and "The Dilemma". And loved "Cinderella Man", "Rush", "Frost/Nixon", "Apollo 13", "The Paper". Both at the top of my head. Agree with your comparison of "Hillbilly Elegy" to "The Help". The audience score at RT is currently sitting at 81% (with 482 user ratings). So people clearly don't agree with the critics.
#22
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
I was entertained and that is all that matters. Maybe if you take out all the profanity it could be a hallmark movie.
It is not the Shape of Water but not bad for a evening viewing at home.
It is not the Shape of Water but not bad for a evening viewing at home.
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Daytripper (11-28-20)
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Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
Had to laugh at the title of this recent episode of The Big Picture podcast
#25
Re: Hillbilly Elegy (2020, D: Ron Howard) S: Amy Adams, Glenn Close -- Netflix
These damn critics and their elitist love for those avant garde Marvel movies.
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John Pannozzi (03-20-21)