One of the biggest Oscar snubs in recent history came in 2016 with Bradley Cooper’s stunning directorial debut, “A Star Is Born.” While the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cooper, the major achievement of the film, Cooper knocking it out of the park for his debut feature-length debut, was somehow overlooked.
Well, Cooper’s obviously not doing it for the awards and clearly remains unbowed. His next feature, “Maestro,” about the life of famous composer Leonard Bernstein and his relationship with his wife, Felicia Cohn Montealegre, has been shooting this spring/summer, and Netflix just released a rather stunning and transformative first look.
Directed by Cooper, the film stars himself as Leonard Bernstein (in a least two different time periods, see below), Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan plays his wife, and Matt Bomer and Maya Hawke feature in undisclosed roles.
Last year, Cooper spoke about the “Maestro” project and said it was one to file under passion project, aka, no one was really getting paid much to make it, and if it weren’t for Netflix, the film wouldn’t get made at all.
“Like, ‘Maestro,’ I’m just so lucky that Netflix is going to pay for the movie,” he said. “And that’s just so the movie will get made, but there’s no back end, there’s no… that [one] is for the love of the game.”
The producers backing this one are some huge names, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Bradley Cooper, Fred Berner, and Amy Durning. Spielberg’s involvement makes sense as it was once a project he was circling years ago.
Here’s a recent synopsis:
“Maestro,” tells of the complex love story between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Cohn Montealegre. It’s a story that spanned more than 30 years, from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continuing through two on-off engagements, a 25-year marriage, three children (Jamie, Alexander, and Nina), and as Bernstein grappled with his own sexual orientation.
“Maestro” is shooting now and presumably will be saved for a 2023 release, but who knows, Netflix usually doesn’t do first looks that far out, so maybe it’ll be ready in time for the end of the year? Either way, it’s sure to be a major awards contender. Stay tuned and check out the first look photos below, including what looks like a phenomenal makeup job on an aged Bernstein as played by Cooper.
