Clint Eastwood didn’t turn up for “Jury” duty in Los Angeles on Sunday, but that didn’t stop his lead actors and a few hundred moviegoers from sending him well wishes.
The 94-year-old screen legend’s latest film, “Juror No. 2,” served as the closing night gala screening for this year’s AFI Fest. At the top of the program held at the historic TCL Chinese Theaters, AFI president Bob Gazzale informed disappointed fans that Eastwood “could not be here with us tonight, but we are here for him.”
After noting his dozens of film credits – including the “Dirty Harry” franchise and directorial efforts like “Richard Jewell” and “Play Misty for Me” – Gazzale introduced “Juror No. 2” stars Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult. The pair last graced a screen together 22 years ago, Collette recalled, in 2002’s “About a Boy.”
Collette said she was honored to work with Eastwood “as a director, which still blows my mind … but he is a truly good, solid human being. Getting to know him has been incredible.” Hoult shared his nerves over auditioning for Eastwood and “Juror” before joking that audiences would not make much sense of the new movie unless they’d seen “Juror No. 1.” The pair then recorded a video message for Eastwood at the behest of a producer, who said the director would appreciate it. Collette and Hoult got the audience to shout “We love you, Clint!”
For his 40th film as director, Eastwood offers up the story of a family man (Hoult) grappling with recent sobriety and wife (Zoey Deutch) riding out a high-risk pregnancy. A nuisance jury duty assignment brings him face-to-face with a horrible incident from his past, one that forces moral and criminal dilemmas throughout a contentious murder trial. Colette plays a steely prosecutor running for political office. Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Messina, Leslie Bibb, J.K. Simmons and Adrienne C. Moore round out the cast.
If the AFI Fest audience felt minimal fanfare at the Sunday premiere, domestic audiences might soon expect the same. Last week, Variety reported in depth about the small theatrical release footprint the Warner Bros. project will carry. The studio is rolling out “Juror No. 2” in less than 50 theaters this weekend, sources said, with no current plans to expand to more locations in the following weeks. Warner Bros. is also unlikely to report box office grosses on the film, a rare-but-not-unheard-of practice in the current marketplace. “Juror No. 2” currently has no launch date for PVOD or a streaming debut on Max.