Bennett Miller has quietly been one of the most consistent filmmakers working in and
around Hollywood. His relative anonymity makes sense since he’s only made three fairly small features (The Cruise, Capote, and Moneyball) since 1998. But the direction of those films elevated them to something unique even though each possessed what might otherwise have been cliché in different hands. As far as The Oscars are concerned, Miller’s last two features have been well-lauded, picking up 11 total nominations and one win – for Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of Truman Capote. Foxcatcher may be the very early sight-unseen favorite for a Best Picture nomination.

Financed by Hollywood artistry savior, Megan Ellison (though some take issue with the ‘savior’ part), in conjunction with Columbia Pictures. Foxcatcher will remain highly anticipated for a while.

Here’s the synopsis:

Based on a true story long-in-development by Miller, the film is written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman (Miller’s Capote) . The story follows John du Pont, a multimillionaire and paranoid schizophrenic who built a wrestling training facility named Foxcatcher on his personal estate in Pennsylvania. In 1996, Du Pont murdered his longtime friend and Olympic gold medal winning wrestler David Schultz, whom he was convinced was part of a conspiracy to kill him. Steve Carell plays Du Pont, in a drastically darker role than we’re used to seeing him in (his suicidal Proust scholar in Little Miss Sunshine is the darkest we’ve seen him, and it was still hilarious), while Mark Ruffalo plays Schultz. Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller play Schultz’s brother and wife.

If you haven’t seen Miller’s The Cruise, it’s worth checking out (WATCH HERE). The eccentric subject, Speed Levitch, now hosts Richard Linklater’s Hulu’s series, Up to Speed.