News of the World (film)

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News of the World
Directed by	Paul Greengrass
Screenplay by	Paul Greengrass Luke Davies
Based on	News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Produced by	Gary Goetzman Gail Mutrux Gregory Goodman
Starring	Tom Hanks Helena Zengel
Cinematography	Dariusz Wolski
Edited by	William Goldenberg
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production company	Universal Pictures Perfect World Pictures Playtone Pretty Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (United States) Netflix (International)
Release date	December 25, 2020 (2020-12-25)
Running time	118 minutes
Language	English Kiowa German
Country	United States
Budget	$38 million
Box office	$12.7 million

News of the World is a 2020 American Western film co-written and directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles, and starring Tom Hanks and introducing Helena Zengel in her international film debut. The film follows an aging Civil War veteran who must return a young girl who was taken in by the Kiowa, and raised as one of them, to her last remaining family. She has lost both her birth and Kiowa families.

News of the World was released theatrically by Universal Pictures in the United States and on DirecTV on December 25, 2020, and grossed $12 million. Internationally, the film was released by Netflix in other territories on February 10, 2021. It received positive reviews from critics who praised Hanks and Zengel's performances as well as the cinematography, musical score, and Greengrass's direction. At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Sound. Zengel received nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Plot

In 1870, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former Confederate officer who served in the 3rd Texas Infantry, makes a meager living traveling from town to town in Texas and reading newspaper stories to local residents for an admission fee of ten cents. After departing Wichita Falls, Kidd comes across an overturned wagon on the road and finds the driver, a black freedman, had been lynched. He also finds a young white girl who only speaks Kiowa and wearing a Kiowa dress and boots. Kidd learns from the girl's paperwork that she is Johanna Leonberger, who had been kidnapped and adopted by Kiowa six years earlier. Union Army troops discovered Johanna while dispersing a Kiowa camp and she was being taken to her living aunt and uncle by the freedman. A passing Union Army patrol instructs Kidd to take the girl to Union officials at an outpost in a town up the road. Kidd has little choice but to acquiesce.

At the town, Kidd is informed that the outpost's Bureau of Indian Affairs representative will be unavailable for three months. Kidd initially plans to leave Johanna in the care of friends Simon and Doris Boudlin, but accepts responsibility for returning the girl to her family in Castroville, some 400 miles away, after she recklessly tries to run away with a band of traveling Native Americans during a storm. In Dallas, Kidd stops at a local inn run by Ella Gannett, an intimate old acquaintance, whom he discovers speaks Kiowa and learns that Johanna's adoptive Native American family was also killed, making her "an orphan twice-over." He also finds out through translation that her Kiowa name is Cicada. After reading the news the next night, Kidd and Johanna are accosted by three ex-Confederate soldiers who want to purchase Johanna from him. Kidd refuses and flees with the girl, but the men pursue him into the wilderness. Despite being outgunned, Kidd is able to kill the men after Johanna points out that the dimes Kidd earned from his work could be used as makeshift ammunition for his shotgun.

On the border of Erath County, Kidd and Johanna are detained by militiamen led by Farley, a racist cattle baron who took over the county and had all non-white residents violently expelled. Farley coerces Kidd into reading propaganda that glorifies him to his workers, but Kidd instead reads a story about a disaster in a Pennsylvania coal mine that whips Farley's workers into a rebellious fury. Kidd and Johanna make a run for it in the ensuing melee, but are caught by Farley and his henchman. Just as Farley is about to shoot Kidd, Johanna wounds Farley with Kidd's shotgun, and John Calley, one of Farley's henchmen who was inspired by Kidd's words, deals with the other henchman and kills Farley.

As the pair continue their journey, their wagon is wrecked and their horses fatally injured when Kidd loses control on a steep road. Kidd and Johanna proceed on foot. After enduring the heat and a blinding sandstorm, they encounter a traveling group of Kiowa who give Johanna a horse. Saved by that gift, Kidd and Johanna eventually reach the Leonberger farmstead. After speaking with Johanna's aunt and uncle, Kidd reluctantly leaves her with them. He then continues to San Antonio to visit the grave of his wife Maria, who had died of cholera 5 years before while he was away serving in the Confederate Army. As he bids farewell to Maria, Kidd realizes that Johanna has become family to him, and rides back to her and apologizes for leaving her behind.

Johanna's aunt and uncle, though not uncaring, had her tied to a post to prevent Johanna from repeatedly running away. They permit Johanna to go with Kidd, with whom she is clearly much happier.

Later, Captain Kidd enthusiastically reads the news to an audience in a large hall with Johanna's assistance, and Kidd introduces her as his daughter, Johanna Kidd.

Cast

• Tom Hanks as Captain Kidd
• Helena Zengel as Johanna
• Michael Angelo Covino as Almay
• Ray McKinnon as Simon Boudlin
• Mare Winningham as Doris Boudlin
• Elizabeth Marvel as Mrs. Gannett
• Fred Hechinger as John Calley
• Bill Camp as Mr. Branholme
• Thomas Francis Murphy as Mr. Farley
• Gabriel Ebert as Benjamin Farley

In addition, Neil Sandilands and Winsome Brown portray Johanna's uncle and aunt, respectively.

Production

TBA

Release

News of the World was theatrically released by Universal Pictures in the United States and on DirecTV on December 25, 2020, which was followed by a Premium video on demand (PVOD) release in the United States on January 15, 2021. It originally was going to be released by Fox 2000 Pictures. In November 2020, it was announced that Netflix had acquired international distribution rights, except for the United States and China, and released it digitally on its streaming service on February 10, 2021. On March 2, 2021, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment officially announced that the release date for News of the World to physical media, including Blu-ray Disc, 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, and DVD, would be March 23, 2021. In the United States, the film was released on HBO/HBO Max on September 4, 2021.

Reception

TBA

See also

• Olive Oatman

External links

• Template:IMDb
• [TBA Script] Template:Webarchive

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