Portman’s Jackie Kennedy film to get Oscar season release

Chile-born Larrain’s first film in English, and his first centering on a female protagonist, had its world premiere last week at Venice and then screened on Sunday night and Monday afternoon in Toronto, where it now is a hotly contested market title.

Though Portman admits the thought of living up to history’s perception of Kennedy was intimidating at first, her dedication to nailing the former First Lady’s physicality paid off; the Oscar-winning performer received some of the best reviews of her career from critics at the Venice Film Festival last week, where the film had its world premiere ahead of winning the Best Screenplay award at the event’s annual awards ceremony on Saturday. Searchlight will release the historical drama on December 9, giving it a prime awards-season birth.

The Black Swan star was excited to portray the former first lady – who was married to President John F. Kennedy – but was anxious about not providing a ideal representation.

Here’s what Fox Searchlight presidents Presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula shared: “Pablo Larraín’s “Jackie” is a daring, one-of-a-kind cinematic portrayal of a beloved icon”.

“Responding to the compliment, Larrain said, “[Searchlight’s] movies have been an important influence on me as a filmmaker, and it is a personal achievement for me to have them bring this very special story of a handsome, sophisticated and mysterious woman to the world”. That changed at the Toronto International Film Festival this week when Fox Searchlight acquired the US rights after an intense bidding war that started Sunday night, according to Indiewire. On Monday, Fox Searchlight picked up distribution for the film and set a USA release of December 9, which would put Jackie-and Portman-right in the heart of awards season.

Natalie Portman’s filmography is packed with 20 years worth of dynamic characters, but very few of them are based on real-life figures.

Jackie also stars Greta Gerwig, Peter Sarsgaard, Max Casella, Beth Grant, John Hurt and, after firing Portman to Oscar glory with Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky is on board to produce the political biopic.