The Card Counter (2021)

[imsounoriginal]

Oscar Isaac to Star in Paul Schrader’s Next Film ‘The Card Counter’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Oscar is set to star in revenge thriller “The Card Counter,” the next film from Oscar-winner Paul Schrader.

The film, written and directed by Schrader, follows William Tell (Isaac), a gambler and former serviceman who sets out to reform a young man seeking revenge on a mutual enemy from their past. Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. Gaining backing from mysterious gambling financier La Linda, Tell takes Cirk with him on the road, going from casino to casino until the unlikely trio set their sights on winning the World Series of poker in Las Vegas. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.

HanWay Films has acquired international sales rights and will commence sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

Braxton Pope, who previously worked with Schrader on “The Canyons,” is producing the film together with Lauren Mann. William Olsson and David Wulf will executive produce.

“The Card Counter” also reunites the filmmaker with cinematographer Alexander Dynan and editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr., who all worked together on “First Reformed.” Principal photography is scheduled to begin early next year.

“Schrader is a master of economical and cinematic story-telling,” said HanWay Films managing director Gabrielle Stewart. “This is essentially an unlikely and surprising three-hander that weaves together the entertaining world of gambling; a potent and personal revenge thriller; unafraid to ask some extremely current and uncomfortable questions. Isaac’s Tell is set to be a modern, iconic anti-hero, unmistakably drawn by this genius screenwriter.”

Isaac recently starred in Netflix’s thriller “Triple Frontier” and is set to reprise is role as Poe Dameron in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” this December. He also wrapped production on Legendary’s “Dune” and voiced Gomez Addams in MGM’s “The Addams Family.”

Schrader is represented by David Gonzales of Northside Services and Isaac by WME, Inspire Entertainment and SGSBC.

[Elgie]

Cool that they do get to collaborate on something (Isaac was almost cast in First Reformed.)

[Cremildo]

I'll always be there for Schrader, even when I don't quite "get" his work (First Reformed).

Not gonna lie, though, that bizarre western project was a bit more interesting than this.

[Hoke Moseley]

Yeah, that plot sounds kind of lame.

I'll hope for the best though.

[Gacivory]

This sounds up my alley! I’m excited!

[Elgie]

[don3663]

First Reformed was his best work in a very, very long time. Hope this turns out good.

[imsounoriginal]

Interesting cast. Curious to see Haddish do something (presumably) serious.

[ManOfTheForest]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I'll always be there for Schrader, even when I don't quite "get" his work (First Reformed).

Not gonna lie, though, that bizarre western project was a bit more interesting than this.

I read about recently and am still confused about his explanation of the plot.

Did he mean that it would begin with Hawke as the hero and Dafoe as the villain but by the end Hawke would be bad and Dafoe would be the good guy? Or did he mean that at a pony in the film they would actually swap roles and take on the the other’s role? Like in that Mitchell and Webb Sherlock Holmes sketch?

[Darth Marcus]

Source: Deadline

Martin Scorsese Joins Paul Schrader’s ‘The Card Counter’; Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan & Willem Dafoe Star With Oscar Isaac In Revenge Thriller – EFM
Tom Grater - February 19, 2020

EXCLUSIVE: Martin Scorsese is set to re-team with Paul Schrader on the First Reformed director’s next movie The Card Counter.

Fresh off his latest Oscar nominations for The Irishman, Scorsese will executive-produce the revenge thriller pic, marking his fifth collaboration with Schrader after Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation Of Christ and Bringing Out The Dead.

I can also confirm that Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe have all joined Oscar Isaac in the movie, which centers on card player Tell (Isaac) whose spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk (Sheridan), an angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel (Dafoe). Gaining backing from mysterious gambling financier La Linda (Haddish), Tell takes Cirk with him on the road, going from casino to casino until the unlikely trio set their sights on winning a World Series of poker tournament.

Schrader had mentioned the casting updates in an interview earlier this month.

Schrader, who also penned the screenplay, said on re-teaming with his Taxi Driver collaborator, “Scorsese and I liked the symmetry of it, the reflection of a long association and mutual love of hand made films.”

HanWay Films is handling international sales at EFM on The Card Counter, with David Gonzales of Northside Services and Endeavor Content overseeing the U.S. sale. Braxton Pope, Lauren Mann and David Wulf are producing with William Olsson as executive producer.

The project also reunites Schrader with cinematographer Alexander Dynan and editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. who all worked together on First Reformed.

[Himmel]

More Tye Sheridan is always a pleasure.

[Mandalorian]

Eclectic cast

[Cremildo]

When I saw the headline on Twitter, I assumed Scorsese had joined the cast, and thought, "I hope he has polished his acting skills since Quiz Show."

[Hoke Moseley]

Scorsese's a weirdly great actor. One of the best one-scene-wonders ever in Taxi Driver.

Glad he's producing this, though!

[Himmel]

[Cremildo]

Schrader talked at length about the film in this Vulture interview.

A sample:

Q: Are you working on your film right now?
A: It’s Saturday, but yesterday I was.

Q: How does that feel?
A: Well, it’s my third film with this editor. So we know the rules.

Q: But you’ve always been in the same room before …
A: We see each other and we see the screen, and eventually we’ll be in the room together. We’re working on several things. One is a standard work-in-progress. Another is a product reel, because they’re talking about having a virtual Cannes where you can sell your product reels. And the third thing: I’m working on what would have been if I had lived.

Q: What the hell does that mean?
A: Well, I’ve done all the big dialogue scenes. I have a number I haven’t done — a number of prison scenes, and I can mock those up by using Google Images and getting Oscar [Isaac]’s voice to say dialogue. And I can sort of show what the film would have been if I hadn’t died before finishing it.

Q: But what percentage of your shooting is finished?
A: About 80 percent. So all of the big stuff is actually done, and I wanted to muscle through [in March], but it would have been unethical.

Q: You have quite a cast in The Card Counter. What’s it about?
A: It’s another one of those Schrader movies.

Q: Meaning Oscar Isaac is God’s loneliest man?
A: He’s the guy in the room, wearing a mask, waiting for something to happen, and the mask is his occupation. In this case, it’s a professional poker player.

Q: On Facebook, you’ve been musing about finishing your film in some way that does not require you to gather your actors and your crew together again.
A: If I can create a simulation of the film, and score it, there will exist a document of what I had in mind. I’m having the actors read their lines and doing capture images of them while they do it. I’m having Google capture images of scenes, of locations. I’m learning you can do a lot of things in computers. You can do camera moves. You can do odd cuts. Even though I planned to shoot it in a certain way, what if I just designed it to be a different thing?

Q: That’s fascinating.
A: Masculin Féminin has always been a very formative film for me. There’s a scene where a guy passes by with a gasoline can and then they hear a sound and somebody rushes back and says, “He just poured the gasoline on himself and burned himself up!” Now, what is that? Is that Godard not shooting a scene, or is that Godard saying, “I don’t need to shoot that scene.” It’s certainly the second: “I don’t need to shoot that scene. It’s more interesting if I don’t shoot it.”

Q: He made that choice, but here that choice is being imposed on you.
A: That’s the question: If I had to do a prison scene with just voice-over, would people accept it as a choice rather than a compromise? One thing I can control is that I have a composing team — these guys from Annihilation. Geoff Barrow, Portishead — they’re gonna score the film. So if I can create a simulation of the film, they can score the simulation. So that’s a good starting point, and, also, if I create a simulation that is scored, I’ve created a template for how the film should be, should I die.

[Himmel]

First Look Oscar Isaac

As Deadline first revealed, the movie has been on production hiatus since March after a cast member tested positive for COVID-19 five days out from the end of shoot.

However, I can now exclusively reveal that cameras are set to get rolling again in Mississippi from early July after a week of prep, with SAG and the local authorities having cleared it to resume. The production will be implementing coronavirus preventative measures to keep cast and crew safe on set, and both the larger crowd scenes and scenes involving intimacy between actors are already in the can so the hope is that it will be smooth sailing to completion. Deadline

[Elgie]

Gone full Pacino

[Koller70]

Is this coming out in late 2020 or next year??

[dkelly26666]

Originally Posted by Koller70

Is this coming out in late 2020 or next year??

We don't know for sure. But I'd bet on next year, now.

They resume filming in July, and hopefully wrap it up soon.

But then there's still all of post and everything.

Plus, I'm not even sure it's secured distribution just yet.

I'm thinking sometime in 2021.

Glad they're getting to finish it.