Stars rush to Hollywood awards circuit and publicity

Opp Christopher Nolan has been talking up Universal’s Oppenheimer, and Martin Scorsese has supported Apple’s

Killers Of The Flower Moon which he took to Cannes.And while Bradley Cooper may have shied away from publicity for Netflix’s Maestro in solidarity with the striking writers and actors, that did not stop him flying to Venice for the world premiere (ostensibly to check sound levels) or sitting with the audience at New York Film Festival for the North American premiere.

Amid the A-lister vaccuum heads of department and crafts teams have been pushed to the fore to discuss their work on awards contenders – and long may the artisans continue to enjoy the limelight.Yet as any awards or publicity insider will attest, having a celebrity actor promote a film is the best way to elevate its profile in the minds of voters and audiences. The ban has been lifted on actors publicising their work for struck companies and the late night talk shows, red carpets and premieres are about to look a lot more familiar again.In a season where there are no clear Oscar frontrunners, now is the time to make some noise.

On Thursday night

Saltburn

writer-director Emerald Fennell walked the red carpet with Barry Keoghan to promote the drama, for which MGM/Amazon Studios has high hopes.

On Sunday (November 12) Killers Of The Flower Moon leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone are understood to be heading over to Hollywood to take part in the film’s official Academy screening.

This evening (Friday November 10) Brie Larson and Tim Hiddleston are due to appear on The Tonight ShowStarring Jimmy Fallon

talk up Disney/Marvel Studios’ The Marvels , which is tracking to open this weekend in the $40-60m range.The tentpole, whose predecessor Captain Marvel opened on $153m in March 2019 en route to a $1.1bn final global haul and changed Larson’s life, is not an awards contender but nonetheless could use a promotional leg-up and is a good example of an early post-strike turnout by stars. Box office pundits speculate the SAG-AFTRA work stoppage has wiped anywhere from 10-20% off box office over the past four months without that all-important star power to support releases.

Timothee Chalamet has been booked in to host this weekend’s Saturday Night Live (November 11) for a while. Now the gags are off he can mention Warner Bros’

Wonka, which opens on December 15. Chloe Domont, writer-director of Netflix’s Fair play, will be joined by Alden Ehrenreich on Sunday for a screening at Los Angeles’ Harmony Domont cut a forlorn figure at a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) reception in September without her stars and finally gets to discuss her buzzy feature directorial debut in front of voters with one of her leads.Monday sees Colman Domingo on

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

to discuss his lead role as activist Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s Civil Rights drama Rustin. He will be joined on the talk show by Dwayne Johnson.

The next few days will be busy Sony for Seth Rogen, who will join Paul Dano and Nick Offerman on Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 13 marling the first time the cast gets to promote Sony’s GameStop drama Dumb Money, which premiered at TIFF sans stars and has already opened in the US, where it struggled to $13.9m.But now Dumb Money

is entering the awards circuit and the cast can introduce it to the all-important voters at upcoming SAG Awards nominating committee screenings, tastemaker events and the like.Two days after Kimmel, Rogen will be out thumping the tubs for Paramount’s animation hopeful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

, which has been a hit on $118m in North America and more than $180m worldwide. According to the invitation for the screening, Q&A, and reception at Hollywood venue NeueHouse, Rogen will be attending in his role of producer. However, now there is no stopping him from talking up his voice as On November 15 Giamatti joins The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and the following evening the three leads will mingle with awards voters and press at a Focus Feature reception at a swanky Century City restaurant.

That same night the Academy Museum will host the Los Angeles premiere of Todd Haynes’ Netflix drama and Cannes premiere May December. The invitation went out before the actors strike ended so there was no mention of Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore attending, however that could change now.And November 16 also brings a screening of Warner Bros’ musical remake The Color Purple

with producer Oprah Winfrey and cast members Taraji P. Henson, Domingo, Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Fantasia Barrino, among others.Barbie‘s supporting actor hopeful Ryan Gosling has just been announced as the recipient of Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Kirk Douglas Award for excellence in film. The Vanguard Award will be announced on November 13 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is the first of several announcements that the festival has planned.