This year’s AFI Film Festival will open with the world premiere of “Hitchcock,” starring Anthony Hopkins as the Master of Suspense.
The film explores the making of the director’s iconic 1960 horror film “Psycho.”
It also stars Helen Mirren as Hitch’s wife Alma, while the “Psycho” cast will be portrayed as follows: Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles and James D”Arcy as Anthony Perkins.
Sacha Gervasi (“Anvil! The Story of Anvil”) is directing from a script based on the Stephen Rebello book “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.”
“Alfred Hitchcock”s signature style has made him one of the most influential directors in the world,” said festival director Jacqueline Lyanga in a press release. “This film pulls back the curtain and takes us behind-the-scenes of his lifelong collaboration with his wife Alma during the making of his 1960 masterpiece ‘Psycho’ – it”s the perfect film to welcome our audience of movie-lovers with an opening night.”
Fox Searchlight recently moved the film to a more Oscar-friendly release date on November 23, no doubt hoping to position Hopkins in the Best Actor race. One month earlier, Hitchcock will be played by Toby Jones in the HBO movie “The Girl.”
The AFI Fest’s closing night film will be the world premiere of Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated “Lincoln” on November 8.
The AFI Film Festival takes place in Los Angeles November 1 – 8.