Distributor A24 dropped the first official teaser for its upcoming sports dramedy Marty Supreme earlier tonight. The film from writer-director Josh Safdie stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role. It is reportedly a dramatised version of the late tennis player Marty Reisman, who won a bronze medal at the World Table Tennis Championships. According to the official synopsis, the film follows a youngster who has a dream that nobody respects, plus who endures a difficult and unpleasant experience in search of greatness.
Marty Supreme also stars Gwyneth Paltrow as a popular actor with whom Reisman forms a romantic relationship. The cast includes musician Tyler, the Creator, Fran Drescher who plays Reisman's mother, magician-actor Penn Jillette, director-actor Abel Ferrara, Shark Tank fame Kevin O’Leary, and Odessa A’zion.
The film marks a return to direction for Josh Safdie after 2019's Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler and also helmed by his brother Benny Safdie. It is his first film as a solo director after his debut feature, 2008's The Pleasure of Being Robbed. Safdie directs the film from a screenplay he has written alongside Ronald Bronstein. Safdie and Bronstein also produce the film Eli Bush, Chalamet, Anthony Katagas, and A24.
The film's cinematographer Darius Khondji revealed recently that Chalamet underwent extensive training to portray the table tennis player. This is unsurprising because the actor has made similar preparations, notably for the recent Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination.
Marty Supreme is slated for a December 25 release in theatres.