Adam Sandler and George Clooney's upcoming film received a huge reaction at this year's Venice Film Festival.
Clooney stars as an ageing actor in Noah Baumbach's upcoming film Jay Kelly, which follows the aforementioned actor and his agent Ron Sukenick (Sandler) on a trip through Europe as they reflect on their Hollywood careers and think about the legacies they'll leave behind.
The film also stars Laura Dern as Jay's publicist, Billy Crudup as Jay's long-time friend and struggling actor Timothy, while Riley Keough and Grace Edwards play Jay's two daughters.
Jay Kelly is scheduled for a limited cinema release on 14 November, before being rolled out across Netflix on 5 December.
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And if the initial reactions from the Venice Film Festival are anything to go by, it's a film you won't want to miss.
According to a report from Variety, the film received a whopping eight-and-a-half-minute standing ovation after it finished screening.
Now to you and I, the thought of standing and clapping for minutes on end may sound a little tiring or a little awkward for those involved in the project – however, these major clap-a-thons have historically been an indicator of a film's expected success.
Guillermo del Toro's 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth currently holds the record for the longest standing ovation at a film festival, later going on to win three Oscars and three additional nominations.
Meanwhile, The Banshees of Inisherin and The Brutalist both received 13-minute standing ovations at their respective Venice Film Festival debuts.
The Banshees of Inisherin wasn't able to snag any of its Academy Award nominations but did pick up four BAFTA awards, while The Brutalist saw lead actor Adrian Brody pick up an Oscar for Best Actor.
However, the standing ovation isn't always an indicator of a film's future success, with projects such as Ana de Armas' Blonde, Francis Ford Coppola's comeback film Megalopolis and Yellowstone star Kevin Costner's western epic Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 all receiving major standing ovations, but ultimately failing to make a mark during awards season.
As for Jay Kelly's box office and awards season success, that remains to be seen; however, the film's first reactions have been generally positive, receiving a score of 83 on Rotten Tomatoes after initial critic reviews.
Commercial success or not, creating the film had a 'vulnerable' process for Clooney, who spoke about the film and its relation to his own status as a Hollywood veteran in an interview with Vanity Fair.
"When you’re an actor in my position, at my age, finding roles like this aren’t all that common," he said.
"If you can’t make peace with aging, then you’ve got to get out of the business and just disappear. I’m now the guy that, when I go running after a bad guy, it’s funny—it’s not suspenseful. That’s okay. I embrace all of that."
Topics: Adam Sandler, George Clooney, Film, Entertainment, Oscars, TV and Film
Brenna Cooper