Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #9. The Tiger – Miroslav Slaboshpitsky

The Tiger

Ukraine’s Miroslav Slaboshpitsky is finally set to commence on his sophomore effort, The Tiger, a project which has been in limbo since Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures and Brad Pitt’s Plan B production house bought the rights back in 2010 (they’re now joined by Focus Features on the production). Slaboshpitsky has also been in a bit of developmental hell with his nuclear fallout drama Luxembourg, which we’ve been tracking for the past several years. Instead, Slaboshpitsky, who received international acclaim for his debut The Tribe (read ★★★★ review), which won top honors at 2014 Cannes Critics’ Week, will now be a director-for-hire on this co-production which has yet to announce its major cast members.

Gist: Based on the 2010 non-fiction book by John Vaillant, The Tiger tells the tale of townspeople being terrorized by a tiger with almost preternatural savagery after the villagers begin to encroach on the creature’s habitat (which bears superficial comparison to 1996’s The Ghost and the Darkness, which was adapted by the recently deceased William Goldman).

Release Date/Prediction: With production purportedly gearing up to begin early 2019, we’re hoping to finally see a new Slaboshpitsky film appear in the Venice competition next fall. The Focus Features folks will play their hand according to award chances.