Elaine May's 'Mikey and Nicky' Returns to Theaters in 4K
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Muscle Distribution announced the theatrical re-release of a 2019 Criterion-conducted 4K restoration of "Mikey and Nicky," supervised by Elaine May, beginning with a Film at Lincoln Center engagement in June before national expansion.
- "Mikey and Nicky" (1976), May's third directorial effort after "A New Leaf" and "The Heartbreak Kid," stars John Cassavetes and Peter Falk as two Philadelphia friends who end up in trouble with the wrong kind of people.
- Paramount executives clashed with May over budget overruns and missed deadlines during production; May refused to show any cuts of the film until threatened with legal action, and she famously hid the film reels from studio executives determined to find them.
- Elizabeth Purchell, Muscle Distribution founder and film historian, called "Mikey and Nicky" a "masterpiece of American cinema" featuring "career best performances" from Cassavetes and Falk.
- Julian Schlossberg, a V.P. at Paramount during the film's 1976 sneak preview, has shepherded the film through its 1978 director's cut release, the 2019 Criterion restoration, and its re-review by The New York Times and other publications.
- Elaine May, 93, remains attached to write and direct "Crackpot" starring Dakota Johnson and Sebastian Stan, with Stan saying in 2024 the film could get made if a younger director agrees to shadow May for insurance purposes.
Why it matters: Forcinephiles, the Criterion restoration May personally supervised is finally getting a wide theatrical run 50 years after Paramount buried the original with a short release. May is also still attached to direct "Crackpot," her first feature since 1987's "Ishtar," meaning a 93-year-old auteur who publicly hid film reels from studio executives is closer to a comeback than at any point in decades.
Ask SkimNews
