Juror #2: The Curious Case of the Missing Clint Eastwood Movie | Clint Eastwood

There's a mystery at the heart of Juror #2, Clint Eastwood's 40th film and, considering he's now 94 years old, possibly his last.

The mystery isn't in the plot, a courtroom thriller in which family man Nicholas Hoult serves as a juror in a hit-and-run case in which he is uniquely positioned to acquit the defendant because, as the trailer suggests, he actually did it.

Rather, it is the fate of the film itself. Eastwood fans in the UK will have no problem seeing Juror#2, as the film is playing in more than 300 cinemas nationwide. However, the film is being shown in fewer than 50 theaters across the United States.

A common strategy for positioning films as awards contenders is to start small and then release nationwide. However, this is not the case with Juror #2, as the number of films in theaters is not increased and the film is not even shown on the Warner Bros. website “For Your Consideration”, the portal for Oscar candidates.

Even stranger, Warners has announced that it will not report any box office revenue from the film – an almost unprecedented step for a theatrical release – and that the film will likely move to streaming before the month is out.

At the film's premiere at the AFI Festival last week, Eastwood was nowhere to be seen, leaving Hoult and his co-star Toni Collette to walk the red carpet and deliver the audience's cry to the director: “We love you, Clint!”

His absence led many to conclude that the nonagenarian was unwell. His health deteriorated following the sudden death of his partner, 61-year-old Christina Sandera, in July and the arrest of his daughter Francesca on domestic violence charges.

However, Eastwood is actually said to be together again, and a post on his official o)offices”.

The Guardian has contacted Warners and representatives for Eastwood for comment.

Eastwood's career has not only been consistently productive, but has been broadly profitable both commercially and critically for Warner Bros., with whom he has worked for six decades. Less than 20 years ago, “Million Dollar Baby” won best picture, best director, best actress and best supporting actor at the Oscars, taking in $216 million worldwide.

In 2014, Warners released Eastwood's highest-grossing film to date, American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, which grossed $547 million on its $59 million budget and received six Oscar nominations.

His films have performed more modestly since then, but some have been bona fide hits – the plane-disaster drama “Sully” grossed $240 million – and none have been disastrous flops. Insiders suspect Warners' new CEO David Zaslav was dismayed by the tepid numbers for “Cry Macho,” Eastwood's 2021 neo-Western, which grossed just half of its $33 million budget.

But the film was released at a time when many cinemas in the USA remained closed and audiences – especially among the older demographic – were hesitant to go to the cinemas. A simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max made the decision even easier for hesitant gamers.

An interview with Zaslav in the Wall Street Journal published the following spring, a month into his tenure, said that the CEO was harshly critical of Warners executives as to why they greenlit Cry Macho: them felt “indebted” to Eastwood for his long relationship with the studio. .

Zaslav allegedly replied that they “don't owe anyone a favor” before quoting Jerry Maguire: “It's not about show friends, it's show business.”

Certainly the circumstances of Juror No. 2's release suggest a chill between Warner's head and one of her prize ponies that may be put out to pasture early.

Zaslav is also under pressure from last month's unexpected flop of “Joker: Folie á Deux,” which cost $200 million (plus significant marketing expenses), opened brilliantly at the Venice Film Festival but, unlike his multi-film, failed to win critical acclaim Audience could appeal to Oscar-winning billion-dollar predecessor.

Oppenheimer's contrasting success will continue to sting: Christopher Nolan ended his long relationship with the studio in 2021 over its new strategy of daily simultaneous streaming, which meant his new film was instead released by Universal Pictures – for whom he was earned $975 million.

Meanwhile, Eastwood is back at work and considering his next project as a director, while also working as a producer on a new version of his 1977 film The Gauntlet, starring Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson.

The 94-year-old was denied the chance for further Oscar glory with juror No. 2. Still, few would bet that he would one day return to the podium.