Dwayne Johnson vs. Timothée Chalamet
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
The Safdie Brothers Uncut Sports, Paul Rudd’s power ballad, Halle Berry’s exit, Sean Baker’s love story, and 24 countries.
Let’s go!
The Safdie Brothers split has birthed two forthcoming sports films.
The first is a wrestling picture called Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson (dir: Benny Safdie). The second is the newly announced ping-pong film Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet (dir: Josh Safdie).
Both A24 films focus on characters who, like those in the Safdie’s other work (Uncut Gems, Good Time), are wild gamblers addicted to conquest.
Marty Supreme will center on the real-life tale of Marty “Supreme” Reisman, considered one of the greatest ping-pong players of all time, winning 22 major titles in his nearly 60-year career.
Supreme was a habitually destitute millionaire, winning and losing his fortune many times over, who hustled Dustin Hoffman, Kurt Vonnegut, David Mamet, Bobby Fischer, and just about anyone who could pick up a paddle.
Here’s an excerpt from a 2011 interview with the then 81-year-old Marty “Supreme” Reisman discussing his technique [spoken with a rapid-fire NYC accent]:
“I play money games mostly, and I've done that most of my life against some of the top players in the United States, five and ten thousand dollar games… producing a lot of spin, propulsion, fraud, and deception.”
One can imagine Chalamet having a lot of fun hustling people at the speed of light.
What’s interesting about Josh Safdie’s casting choice is that the type of Chalamet performance that feels the most analog to this one is Wonka.
There’s a beautifully liberated animated quality to his every movement in that film that screams showman—and something that would be perfect for seducing movie stars to $10 K games of ping-pong.
For More:
Read more on Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet, including a breakdown of Josh Safdie’s directing style, contrasted with Benny Safdie’s style in Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson https://theindustry.co/safdie-brothers-uncut-sports
Plus, see a fun comparison still of Timothee Chalamet and Marty “Supreme” Reisman.