As much as I loathe to wade into awards season chatter, one of the most humorous things thus far this year is various pundits predicting September 5 as the frontrunner for Best Picture, a film that has not earned all that much acclaim nor buzz in its festival debuts. Now audiences will get a chance to decide for themselves as Paramount rolls out the film, directed by Tim Fehlbaum and starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem, Georgina Rich, Corey Johnson, Marcus Rutherford, Daniel Adeosun, Benjamin Walker, and Ferdinand Dörfler, on November 29 before expanding wider on December 13. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “September 5 unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows an American Sports broadcasting team that quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, September 5 provides a fresh perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people at the time. At the heart of the story is Geoff (John Magaro), a young and ambitious producer striving to prove himself to his boss, the legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Together with German interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) and his mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), Geoff unexpectedly takes the helm of the live coverage. As narratives shift, time ticks away, and conflicting rumors spread, with the hostages’ lives hanging in the balance, Geoff grapples with tough decisions while confronting his own moral compass.”
See the trailer below.
