Look who’s made a surprise visit to today’s Tokyo International Film Festival – surprising at least for me since I didn’t know about. Meryl is in Tokyo for the city’s film festival and presentation of “Florence Foster Jenkins”. Speaking on the film, Streep said: ““I did try to learn how to sing these arias properly, so I got a very, very good, true opera coach and he taught me the arias correctly. And then in the last two weeks of a two-month preparation… we just, what’s the nice word, screwed around with them. Somehow I pulled it off.” American socialite Foster Jenkins craved fame as a diva but instead gained notoriety for her terrible singing voice. The 29th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival will screen 16 films in competition chosen from some 1,500 works sent in from 96 countries and regions.
Today, Meryl Streep held court at the 11th Rome Film Festival, attending a photocall and press conference for the Italian premiere of “Florence Foster Jenkins”, as well as a conversation panel called “Meryl Streep meets the Audience”. No conversation these days is complete without questions about Donald Trump, and Streep, who has appeared in a PSA to support Hillary Clinton last week, had little to say about the candidate: “I don’t feel that I have to make any further pronouncements on the sexism of the Trump campaign. I think they’re doing a very good job on their own. Or he’s doing a good job on his own. I’m not sure his campaign knows quite what to make of it.” Hopefully, more information on the press conference and panel with be added soon. For now, enjoy the pictures.
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2016 – 11th Rome Fillm Festival – Photocall
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2016 – 11th Rome Fillm Festival – Press Conference
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2016 – 11th Rome Fillm Festival – Conversation Panel
As previously reported, Meryl Streep will be a guest at this year’s Rome International Film Fetival. On October 20, Streep will be attending a question-and-answer session for fans as part of the promotional tour for British director Stephen Frears’ “Florence Foster Jenkins”. Tickets will go on sale October 06. For a full programme of films and conversation panels, visit the festival’s programme. Many thanks to Glenn and Simona for the heads-up.
While “Florence Foster Jenkins” is still being shown throughout the United States, the film has been released on DVD, Blu-Ray and on demand in the United Kingdom, where it was theatrically released in May. Be sure to grab your copy if you haven’t seen it yet / if you’re able to play European region DVDs. Having received my copy just in time, over 1.600 Blu-Ray screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery. Enjoy!
“Florence Foster Jenkins” was not able to dethrone “Suicide Squad” from the US box office’s number one, but according to Entertainment Weekly, it sits just well in comparison to Meryl’s previous Summer releases: Hitting the adult demographic in typical fashion, Meryl Streep’s Florence Foster Jenkins lands at No. 8, earning an estimated $6.6 million from 1,528 locations. The film’s $4,306 per-screen average and solid critical reviews line up with Streep’s last August outing, 2015’s Ricki and the Flash, which grossed $6.6 million on 1,603 screens. Though the numbers are small in comparison to the film’s wide release brethren, Streep’s consistency with the mature crowd (97 percent of Florence’s opening weekend audience was over 25) can’t be denied, and her latest outing should perform well in the coming weeks, finishing somewhere in the $28-$35 million range with strong critical reviews (86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and a decent A- grade from audiences on CinemaScore.
As you can see from the recent photos additions, there have been many additional public appearances to promote the theatrical release of “Florence Foster Jenkins” in the United States. These past few days, Meryl has attended conversation panels by Times Talks, the SAG/AFTRA Foundation and BAFTA New York. Together with Stephen Frears, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg, she was a guest on The Charlie Rose Show on Wednesday. All clips have been added to the video archive – the Times Talks has been added as an expcerpt because it runs over an hour (you can watch the full interview here). Also, a new featurette and three new clips from “Florence Foster Jenkins” have been added.
Lots of additional pictures from many of the past day’s events have been added. Besides the New York premiere for “Florence Foster Jenkins”, a screening was held in the East Hamptons on Monday to kick off the US promotion of the film. On August 10, the cast has attended several Q&As for BAFTA New York, the SAG/Aftra Foundation and appearing together on “The Charlie Rose Show”. Also on August 10, Meryl gave a very insightful and entertaining interview at Times Talks. Check out the next update for video additions. All added pictures can be found below.
Also yesterday, Meryl Streep was all smiles while hitting the red carpet at the premiere of her film Florence Foster Jenkins held at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 Theater on Tuesday (August 9) in New York City. She was joined by her co-stars Hugh Grant, Nina Arianda and Simon Helberg. Meryl recently opened up about her and Hugh‘s love in the film and how it should not be dismissed in spite of the infidelities. “I think especially, peering into other people’s relationships, it’s almost always not what you think it is from the outside, and I think it’s an accurate portrayal of realistic, delusional love,” Meryl explained (via CBS News). “It’s realistic because it is what it is and there is illusion and they both prop up… in this bubble of happiness.” “I mean one of the genius things that Stephen did that’s embedded in the film is even in the margins, you feel the warmth,” Meryl added. “There’s so many analogies to now, figuring out what makes life worth living. Love and art, as far as I’m concerned, is right smack in the middle. So the compromises that people make to keep their happiness intact — I think that’s all in the service of good.”
Yesterday marked the big promotional day for “Florence Foster Jenkins” in New York. Dozens of press junkets were taped, Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant were guests at CBS This Morning and Good Morning America, and the N.Y. premiere for the film was held in the evening (see the next update). For a complete list of video addtions, have a look at the list below.
A big batch of additional production stills and on-set pictures from “Florence Foster Jenkins” have been added to the photo gallery. Also, UK fans will have to wait less than a month to own the film on home video. After its theatrical release in May, “Florence Foster Jenkins” will hit the UK market on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 05, 2016 – only weeks after the film’s US release.