Entertainment Weekly have given us a first look at Isla’s upcoming drama from Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals, with an article about the making of the film and the first stills of Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. No pictures of Isla as yet, but there is a small mention of her role:

Nocturnal Animals: First look at Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams in Tom Ford’s new thriller — Exclusive

Six years ago, critics and audiences were taken completely by surprise by A Single Man. The sensitive, stylish drama, adapted from a 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, was about one day in the life of a dapper college professor (Colin Firth) who has decided to kill himself rather than live with the grief of his lover’s death.

For his poignant performance, Firth was nominated for an Academy Award. He lost — but when Firth scored the Best Actor Oscar the next year for The King’s Speech, he took a moment to acknowledge A Single Man’s first-time director from the podium: “And my very fortunate friendship with Tom Ford, to whom I owe a very big piece of this.”

From the office of his name brand headquarters in London, Ford smiles at the mention of Firth’s Oscar speech shout-out. “It was so sweet of him,” says the 54-year-old superstar designer, who became world famous two decades ago as the creative director of Gucci and Saint Laurent. “Colin is a very loyal, solid, terrific person and I was so spoiled to make my first film with him.”

Ford has been even more spoiled on his follow-up movie, the dark, wicked, double-narrative Nocturnal Animals, which stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal (seen here in these exclusive images) in the lead roles. Like Ford’s debut film, this one is also based on a novel, which Ford once again adapted into a screenplay himself.

The 1993 book Tony and Susan was written by a Cincinnati author named Austin Wright, who died in 2003 at the age of 80. It starts with such a tantalizing hook: A married woman named Susan receives in the mail a manuscript called Nocturnal Animals from her ex-husband, Edward, who she hasn’t spoken to in years. As she begins to read Edward’s book — a tense page-turner about a family under siege by hoodlums on the highway late at night — we read it right along with her. And we wonder, what does it all mean? Is the book an act of forgiveness? Or an act of revenge?

Ford was certainly intrigued, enough so that he optioned the book’s rights. “I think that what Edward has done,” he says, “is written this book and sent it to his ex-wife and through that, he’s saying, ‘This is what you did to me.’ But it took him 20 years to express himself to her. And what really spoke to me was the whole part about the choices we make in our life. And how long we sometimes wait to make them.”

Continue reading Entertainment Weekly’s first look at “Nocturnal Animals”

Tom Ford’s ‘Nocturnal Animals,’ Villeneuve’s ‘Arrival,’ new Kusturica Headed for Venice

With one week to go before the 73rd Venice Film Festival reveals its lineup, two U.S. titles with awards buzz — Tom Ford-directed thriller “Nocturnal Animals” and Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi pic “Arrival” — are virtually assured a Lido launch.

Another hot U.S. title, Antoine Fuqua’s Western “The Magnificent Seven,” could also be headed to the fest, but is more uncertain.

And though festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is still making last-minute decisions, new features from prominent European auteurs Emir Kusturica (“On The Milky Road”) and Wim Wenders (“The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez”) are also very likely to be among the contenders vying for a Golden Lion, as is the latest work from French director Stephane Brize (“Une Vie”).

Word on what pics will surface on the Lido is particularly muted this year, indicating the usual uncertainty about titles being ready and Barbera’s down-to-the-wire decision-making.

Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals,” which is set in the L.A. art scene and the Texas criminal underworld, is the second film directed by the fashion designer. Two years ago at Cannes, Ford pre-sold world rights to the thriller, which stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, to Focus Features in a standout $20-million deal.

Adams will likely be doing double duty on the Venice red carpet.

Villeneuve’s “Arrival,” previously titled “Story of Your Life,” stars Adams as a linguistics expert recruited by the United States government after an alien spacecraft lands on Earth.

The fest’s announced opener, Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” a tribute to the Golden Age of American musicals which stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. “La La Land” will world-premiere in competition Aug. 31.

The Venice fest will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10. The lineup will be announced July 28.

(Variety)

Tom Ford’s ‘Nocturnal Animals’ Lands Awards Season Release Date

Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals will open in select theaters on Nov. 18, the heart of awards season.

The Focus Features release, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, tells the story of an art gallery owner who is haunted by her ex-husband’s novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.

Nocturnal Animals will continue to expand midweek on Nov. 23, the beginning of the long Thanksgiving holiday, before rolling out nationwide on Dec. 9.

Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Ellie Bamber and Laura Linney also star in the specialty film, adapted from Austin Wright’s novel, Tony and Susan.

The Thanksgiving corridor is primetime when it comes to unveiling movies vying for awards attention, and Nocturnal Animals has no shortage of competition. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea also begins its platform run on Nov. 18, while survival tale Lion opens in select theaters Nov. 23.

Nocturnal Animals marks Ford’s second feature directorial outing after A Single Man, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Released in fall 2009 after making its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, the movie earned Firth an Oscar nomination for best actor as well as a Golden Globe nomination.

(THR)