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Freckle Films

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Freckle Films
Company typePrivate
IndustryProduction company
Founded2016 (2016)
FounderJessica Chastain
Headquarters
New York
,
United States
Key people
Clemens Pongratz, Leili Gerami (executive producers) Kelly Carmichael (president of production and development)
Products

Freckle Films is an American film and television production company. It was founded by Jessica Chastain in 2016.[1] The company's projects include the biopics The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) and George & Tammy (2022), both starring Chastain.

History

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In February 2016, it was reported that Chastain had launched her company.[1] In May 2017, Kelly Carmichael became a president of production and development. Carmichael, who had previously worked at Miramax and at The Weinstein Company as a production executive.

Chastain in 2022

Under Freckle Films, Chastain produced and starred in the action film Ava (2020), written and initially set to be directed by Matthew Newton, who has been accused of domestic violence. Following backlash against her for agreeing to work with him, Newton was replaced with Tate Taylor.[2][3] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter bemoaned that Chastain's talents as an action star had been wasted in an underwhelming film.[4] Released theatrically during the COVID-19 pandemic, it performed poorly at the box office but gained success on video on demand.[5] The film was released in Hungary on July 2, 2020.[6] It was released in the United States through DirecTV Cinema on August 27, 2020, followed by video on demand on September 25, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment.[7][8][9] It received a DVD and Blu-ray release in Australia on September 2, 2020, by Madman Entertainment.[10][11] It began streaming on Netflix on December 6, 2020.[12] It was the third most-watched film on the site on its first day of release and finished first in its second day.[13] It went on to become the top-streamed film over its first weekend.[14] In Hungary, the film made $31,820 from 59 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office. The film grossed a total of $3.3 million worldwide.[15] In its debut weekend in the U.S., Ava was the most rented film on Apple TV and Google Play, and second on FandangoNow.[16] In its second weekend the film topped Apple TV, Google Play, and Spectrum, and remained second at FandangoNow. IndieWire described the performance of Ava as "the best showing for a non-premium title in the six months we've covered weekly VOD performance."[5]

The company then entered production on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Chastain and Andrew Garfield. The Eyes of Tammy Faye had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021, and was released on September 17, 2021, by Searchlight Pictures. To look like Bakker, Chastain wore prosthetic makeup which took 4–7 hours to apply.[17] The role also required her to sing, which she has said made her nervous.[18] She worked with the music producer Dave Cobb to record seven songs for the film's soundtrack.[19] David Fear of Rolling Stone found Chastain to be the "only reason to see this curiously tepid biopic" and praised her for rising above the script to humanize Bakker.[20] Kevin Maher of The Times considered it to be a "riveting, unleashed and award-worthy performance" and compared it to Joaquin Phoenix's performance in Joker (2019).[21] Critics praised the performances (particularly Chastain's) while criticizing the screenplay, deeming the film to be inferior to the documentary. At the 94th Academy Awards the film won Best Actress (for Chastain) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Chastain also won the SAG Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress.

In 2018, Chastain and a group of international actresses travelled to Cannes Film Festival to pitch an all female ensemble spy film, The 355.[22] Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the film at $20 million.[23] It was released on January 7, 2022. In 2022, the company purchased the rights to adapt the novel The School for Good Mothers as a television series.[24]

Freckle Films and Chastain then executive produced the Showtime biographical miniseries George & Tammy, in which she played the country singer Tammy Wynette opposite Michael Shannon's George Jones.[25][26] In preparation, Chastain and Shannon trained with a vocal coach to sing several of their character's songs. She also lost weight to play Wynette toward the end of her life.[27] Emma Fraser of The Playlist was appreciate of the chemistry between the actors, and took note of the "fragility and toughness" in Chastain's portrayal.[28] The series had strong viewership across various platforms, marking a high for a Showtime original series in multi-platform era.[29] She won another SAG Award, a Golden Globe nomination and earned her first nomination for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie; the series also received three other nominations.[30][31][32]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Film title Director Gross (worldwide) Notes
2020 Ava Tate Taylor $3.3 million[15]
2021 The Eyes of Tammy Faye Michael Showalter $2.7 million[33] Academy Award wins for Best Actress in a Leading Role & Best Makeup and Hairstyling
2022 The 355 Simon Kinberg $27.8 million[34][35]
2024 Mothers' Instinct Benoît Delhomme

Television series

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Year Film title Network Notes
2022 George & Tammy Showtime Miniseries; Four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.

Upcoming projects

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mcnary, Dave (18 February 2016). "Jessica Chastain Launching Freckle Films Production Company". Variety.
  2. ^ Harmon, Steph (August 7, 2018). "Jessica Chastain accused of hypocrisy for working with Matthew Newton". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  3. ^ McNary, Dave (August 27, 2018). "Tate Taylor Replaces Matthew Newton as Director of Jessica Chastain's 'Eve'". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  4. ^ Hoeij, Boyd Van (August 23, 2020). "'Ava': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Brueggemann, Tom (October 5, 2020). "'Ava' Takes Over as the Top VOD Choice, with Thriller 'Alone' Still Strong". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Licskay, Péter (June 29, 2020). "Hungarian cinemas reopen – here is what it will be like". Daily News Hungary. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  7. ^ "Ava". DirecTV Cinema. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  8. ^ Konrad, Jeremy (June 24, 2020). "Jessica Chastain Is An AssassinIn Trailer For Ava, Out September 25th". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Exclusive: Sneak peeks at all the fall movies you'll want to stream". USA Today. August 28, 2020. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  10. ^ "Ava (2020) - DVD". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  11. ^ "Ava (2020) (Bluray) - Blu-ray". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  12. ^ "Jessica Chastain's 'Ava' Coming to Netflix in December 2020". What's on Netflix. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  13. ^ "Ava". Flix Patrol. December 10, 2020. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Brueggemann, Tom (December 14, 2020). "'Holiday Cheer, New and Old, Leads VOD and Netflix Charts". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Ava (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  16. ^ Brueggemann, Tom (September 28, 2020). "'Ava' Joins 'Antebellum' Atop VOD Charts While 'Enola Holmes' Rules at Netflix". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  17. ^ White, Abbey (August 24, 2021). "Jessica Chastain Says Makeup for 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' Has Done "Permanent Damage to My Skin"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Romano, Nick (December 6, 2021). "How Jessica Chastain prepared for singing as Tammy Faye: 'Bourbon'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  19. ^ Malkin, Marc (August 29, 2019). "Jessica Chastain on Making 'It: Chapter Two,' Singing in Upcoming Tammy Faye Bakker Biopic". Variety. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  20. ^ Fear, David. "'The Eyes of Tammy Faye': Jessica Chastain Will Have You Crying 'Holy Sh-t'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  21. ^ Maher, Kevin (February 3, 2022). "The Eyes of Tammy Faye review — it will restore your faith in biopics". The Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  22. ^ "Spying on Jessica Chastain's Spy Movie, 355, at Cannes". Vanity Fair. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  23. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2018-05-12). "Cannes: Universal Lands Jessica Chastain-Led Female-Fronted Spy Film '355'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  24. ^ White, Peter (3 January 2022). "Jessica Chastain's Freckle Films To Adapt Jessamine Chan's 'The School For Good Mothers' As Series With Jude Weng & Endeavor Content". Deadline. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  25. ^ Scheneller, Johanna (March 30, 2017). "The many defiant women of Jessica Chastain". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  26. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 3, 2022). "Showtime Picks Up 'George & Tammy' Limited Series Starring Jessica Chastain & Michael Shannon In First Chris McCarthy Move". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  27. ^ Ford, Rebecca (October 6, 2022). "See Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon as Country Music's King and Queen in George & Tammy". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  28. ^ Fraser, Emma (November 29, 2022). "'George & Tammy' Review: Jessica Chastain & Michael Shannon Are Electrifying As The Country Music Power Couple". The Playlist. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  29. ^ Earl, William (December 6, 2022). "'George & Tammy' Opens Strong for Showtime". Variety. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  30. ^ "Golden Globes 2023: Nominations List". Variety. December 12, 2022. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  31. ^ Lewis, Hilary (January 11, 2023). "SAG Awards: 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  32. ^ Rice, Lynette (July 12, 2023). "Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  33. ^ "The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  34. ^ "The 355". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  35. ^ "The 355". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  36. ^ "Netflix Buys Jessica Chastain-Jake Gyllenhaal Film 'The Division'". Variety. 10 June 2019.
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