The screenwriter and director James Gray (The Lost City of Z, Ad Astra) will present this year his most recent film project, the crime thriller Paper Tigerhand in hand with the independent study NEON.
NEON shared the first official poster of Paper Tigerfocused on its protagonist trio: Miles Teller (Michael), Adam Driver (Father Mother Sister Brother) y Scarlett Johansson (Jurassic World Rebirth).
Set in Queens, New York, in 1986, the plot focuses on brothers Gary (Driver), a former police officer, and Isaac (Teller), an engineer, who become involved in a plot (because of Gary) that ends up involving the Russian mafia. The plan threatens to ruin his chances of achieving the American dream, weaken his family ties, and put his entire family in grave danger. Johansson plays Isaac's wife, who is also going through her own conflicts.
Gray says the story is loosely based on his own family's encounter with the Russian mafia in New York in the 1980s.
Check out the poster at the end of the note, and come back tomorrow for the debut of the full trailer.
NEON acquired the distribution rights to Paper Tiger last May, prior to the project's world premiere at Cannes 2026.
By the way, the film marks a new collaboration between Johansson and Driver, after starring in the drama Marriage Story.
This is the official description:
“It is a tense, gritty story that revolves around two brothers pursuing the American dream, only to become embroiled in a plot that is too good to be true. As they try to make their way in an increasingly dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves brutally terrorized, along with their family, by the Russian mafia. Their bond begins to weaken, and betrayal, once completely unthinkable, now becomes all too possible.”
Rodrigo Teixeira produces the feature film with his company RT Features, and his collaborator Anthony Katagas of AK Productions, along with Raffaella Leone, Gary Farkas, Marco Perego, Carlo Salem, and Andrea Bucko. Executive producers are Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Riccardo Maddalosso, and Emille Salveson.
Paper Gray was shot on 2-perf 35mm film by the cinematographer Joaquín Baca-Asay. The 35mm 2-perf format is also known as Techniscope. To this day, it remains a more economical option for filmmakers who choose to shoot on film and prefer to use the classic 35mm format instead of the smaller 16mm.
Filming took place in New Jersey.
Paper Tiger will have a limited release in theaters on November 13, in the middle of awards season.
Poster:
Source: https://cine3.com/poster-paper-tiger-james-gray-neon/
