John Malkovich appeared at the BFI London Film Festival this week to promote Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh's political dark comedy set against the 1973 Chilean coup. The conversation shifted quickly from the film to something more unsettling: whether theaters can survive without awards season.
"Now, [the awards trail] is the only way to get people to go to the theaters," Malkovich said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm a grown-up. It's a part of the business now."
The remarks arrive with some weight behind them. Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at this year's Venice Film Festival for his performance as Chris Carlisle, a terminal CIA officer sent to Easter Island in the weeks before Pinochet's coup. His prior Oscar nominations came in 1985 for Places in the Heart and in 1994 for In the Line of Fire. He says the calculus has reversed. Films used to earn their audience before Oscar night. Now the nomination is what brings them in.
McDonagh's film holds 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and stars Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, and Parker Posey alongside Malkovich. Searchlight releases it in the US and UK on November 6. The campaign begins now.
"They just change," Malkovich added, "and you either change with them or die."
It is a bleaker read on the state of theaters than most studios would volunteer. But Malkovich has never been known for optimism.
