The Survivor | |
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Directed by | Barry Levinson |
Written by | Justine Juel Gillmer |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | George Steel |
Edited by | Douglas Crise |
Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | HBO Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 129 minutes [1] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
The Survivor is a 2021 biographical drama film directed by Barry Levinson, from a screenplay by Justine Juel Gillmer. Ben Foster stars as Harry Haft, a real-life survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he boxed fellow inmates to survive. Vicky Krieps, Billy Magnussen, Peter Sarsgaard, John Leguizamo, and Danny DeVito co-star. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021, and was released on HBO on April 27, 2022. The film received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Foster's lead performance. The film was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Television Movie.
In November 2018, it was announced that Ben Foster had joined the cast of the film, along with Barry Levinson, who was supposed to direct the film from a screenplay by Justine Juel Gillmer, with Matti Leshem, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Sosnoff, Levinson and Scott Pardo producing under their New Mandate, Bron Studios and Creative Wealth Media banners, respectively. [2] In March 2019, Billy Magnussen, Danny DeVito, Vicky Krieps, Peter Sarsgaard, Dar Zuzovsky and John Leguizamo joined the cast of the film. [3] Hans Zimmer composed the film's score. [4] The film was re-titled The Survivor from the working title, Harry Haft. [5] Principal photography began in February 2019. [6]
The Survivor had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13. [7] In October 2021, HBO Films acquired distribution rights to the film. [8] The film debuted on HBO and HBO Max on April 27, 2022.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 86% of 69 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "Ben Foster's gripping work in the central role further elevates The Survivor's affectingly character-driven approach to its weighty themes." [9] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [10]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | Hollywood Critics Association Awards | Best Broadcast Network or Cable Live-Action Television Movie | The Survivor | Won | [11] |
Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Ben Foster | Nominated | |||
Best Directing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Barry Levinson | Nominated | |||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Television Movie | Ben Foster, Matti Leshem, Aaron L. Gilbert, Barry Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, and Scott Pardo | Nominated | [12] | |
2023 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Movie Made for Television | The Survivor | Nominated | [13] |
Satellite Awards | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | [14] |
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983), which won him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. He plays Frank Reynolds on the FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006–present).
Barry Lee Levinson is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for Rain Man (1988). His other best-known works are Diner (1982), The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Bugsy (1991), and Wag the Dog (1997). In 2021, he co-executive produced the Hulu miniseries Dopesick and directed the first two episodes.
Benjamin A. Foster is an American actor. His films include The Punisher (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand and Alpha Dog, 30 Days of Night (2007), The Messenger and Pandorum, The Mechanic (2011), Contraband (2012), Kill Your Darlings and Lone Survivor, The Program (2015), Warcraft (2016), and Leave No Trace (2018). He has won an Independent Spirit Award for portraying Tanner Howard in Hell or High Water (2016). He also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin in the television series Six Feet Under (2003–2005).
Samuel Levinson is an American filmmaker and actor. He is the son of Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson. In 2010, he received his first writing credit as a co-writer for the action comedy film Operation: Endgame. The following year, he made his directorial film debut with Another Happy Day (2011), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. He then received a writing credit on his father's HBO television film The Wizard of Lies (2017). He continued writing and directing for the feature films Assassination Nation (2018) and Malcolm & Marie (2021).
Danny DeVito is an American actor and filmmaker, who has been active in film since the 1970s. One of his earliest and most notable role was in Taxi; the hilarious comedy tv show on prime time television. He played the role Martini in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975 alongside Jack Nicholson. In the 70s and 80s, he appeared in Car Wash (1976), Terms of Endearment (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984) and its sequel The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Ruthless People (1986), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Twins (1988), and The War of the Roses (1989). In 1992, he was cast in the role of the villain Penguin opposite Michael Keaton's Batman in Batman Returns. In the 90's, he starred in Renaissance Man (1994), and co-starred in the films Get Shorty with Gene Hackman (1995), Matilda with wife Rhea Perlman, which he also directed and produced. He played George Shapiro in 1999's Man on the Moon opposite Jim Carrey, who played Andy Kaufman, a real-life friend of DeVito's.
Harry Haft also known as Herschel Haft, was a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp where he boxed fellow inmates to survive. He was briefly a professional boxer in post-war Germany, and boxed as a light heavyweight in the United States from 1948–1949.
Bron Studios is a Canadian motion picture company based in British Columbia and owned by Bron Media Corporation. Bron's notable productions include Joker, Bombshell, Queen & Slim, Greyhound, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Mule, Henchmen, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Rudderless, Welcome to Me, The Addams Family, The Willoughbys, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Vicky Krieps is a Luxembourgish-German actress. She has appeared in a number of American, Luxembourgish, French, and German productions. Her breakout role was in the period film Phantom Thread (2017).
The following is the complete list of filmography of John Leguizamo.
The Wizard of Lies is a 2017 American television biopic film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Sam Levinson, Sam Baum, and John Burnham Schwartz, based on the 2011 non-fiction book of the same name by Diana B. Henriques. The film stars Robert De Niro as businessman and fraudster Bernie Madoff, Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife Ruth Madoff, and Alessandro Nivola as their older son Mark Madoff. It aired on HBO on May 20, 2017. This is the fourth film featuring De Niro and Pfeiffer, following Stardust (2007), New Year's Eve (2011) and The Family (2013), as well as their first collaboration for television.
Paterno is a 2018 American television drama film directed by Barry Levinson. It stars Al Pacino as former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, and his career leading up to his dismissal following the university's child sex abuse scandal in 2011. Riley Keough, Kathy Baker, Greg Grunberg and Annie Parisse also star. The film premiered on HBO on April 7, 2018.
The Last Vermeer is a 2019 American drama film directed by Dan Friedkin from a screenplay by John Orloff, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby. It is based on the 2008 book The Man Who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez, and tells the story of Han van Meegeren, an art maker who swindles millions of dollars from the Nazis, alongside Dutch Resistance fighter Joseph Piller.
The Shop: Uninterrupted, or simply The Shop, is an American television talk show created by Paul Rivera. It stars professional basketball star LeBron James and businessman Maverick Carter, who alongside guests have conversations and debates in a barbershop. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on August 28, 2018. On February 28, 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season and moved to YouTube. In 2021, the series won a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Edited Sports Series.
Made for Love is an American science fiction black comedy-drama television series based on the 2017 novel of the same name by creator Alissa Nutting. The series premiered on HBO Max on April 1, 2021. It stars Cristin Milioti, Billy Magnussen and Ray Romano. In June 2021, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 28, 2022. Despite positive response to the series, in June 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons following the merger of HBO Max's parent company WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. to become Warner Bros. Discovery. It was removed from HBO Max in December 2022.
Dopesick is an American drama television miniseries, created by Danny Strong for Hulu. Based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy, it premiered on October 13, 2021, and concluded on November 17, 2021, after eight episodes. The series was produced by 20th Television, John Goldwyn Productions, and The Littlefield Company. It stars Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, Will Poulter, John Hoogenakker, Kaitlyn Dever, and Rosario Dawson. The series focuses on how the opioid epidemic started and the people in the U.S. were impacted by it.
AGC Studios is an American film and television production studio. It was founded and launched by Chairman and CEO Stuart Ford in February 2018 as a platform to develop, produce, finance and globally license a diverse portfolio of feature films, scripted, unscripted and factual television, digital and musical content from its dual headquarters in Los Angeles and London. The new studio's Hollywood output has a wide-ranging multicultural focus, designed for exploitation across an array of global platforms including major studio partnerships, streaming platforms, traditional broadcast and cable television networks and independent distributors, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Alto Knights is an upcoming American biographical crime drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi. The film stars Robert De Niro in a dual role as 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.
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The following is a list of unproduced Barry Levinson projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Barry Levinson worked on numerous projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these fell into development hell, were officially cancelled, or would see life under a different production team.
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