Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 to Close the AFI Fest

We haven’t heard much about Juror #2, but it’s a good sign that it’s closing the AFI Fest. I’ll never forget how Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper was shown at the AFI Fest and became a prominent Oscar contender at the end of the year. Given that Eastwood isn’t sucked into the bubble of the insular nature of the Oscars, there’s a good chance more people will see his film than probably most of the top contenders, which could drive it to a nomination. Then again, with the climate of fear and the scolds who punish people for independent thought could go after Eastwood – rinse, repeat. It’s so boring by now, all of that, yet here we still are. Here is the press release:

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that the World Premiere of Clint Eastwood’s JUROR #2 will close the 38th edition of AFI FEST presented by Canva. The Warner Bros. Pictures film stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Gabriel Basso, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, Leslie Bibb and Kiefer Sutherland. JUROR #2 will screen as the AFI FEST Closing Night Red Carpet Premiere at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre on October 27. Passes are available at FEST.AFI.com.

“There is only one Clint Eastwood – and AFI is proud to present the World Premiere of this next chapter in his historic canon,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “We are honored to bring the community together once again – artists and audiences – to celebrate an American icon.”

The premiere of JUROR #2 continues a long relationship between Eastwood and AFI. Eastwood launched the World Premieres of AMERICAN SNIPER, J. EDGAR and RICHARD JEWELL at AFI FEST. In 1996, Eastwood received the 24th AFI Life Achievement Award – the highest honor for a career in film, and in 2009, AFI conferred an Honorary Degree upon Eastwood for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image.

The film follows family man Justin Kemp who, while serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict – or free – the accused killer.

JUROR #2 is written by Jonathan Abrams; produced by Eastwood, Tim Moore, p.g.a., Jessica Meier, p.g.a., Adam Goodman and Matt Skiena; and executive produced by David M. Bernstein, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Jeremy Bell. The film features the work of Yves Bélanger, director of photography; Ron Reiss, production designer; Joel Cox, David Cox, editors; Deborah Hopper, costume designer; Mark Mancina, original score; and Geoffrey Miclat, casting.

The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

The film also stars Eastwood daughter, Francesca Eastwood.

Yes, Clint Eastwood is getting up there. He’s 93 years old. Here is his Oscar stat list from IMDb: