Netflix has unveiled release dates and a first teaser for its buzzy awards prospect Maestro, marking the second filmmaking vehicle for Bradley Cooper, on the heels of A Star Is Born. The film, which he co-wrote, directed and leads as lovestruck composer Leonard Bernstein, is due to hit select theaters November 22nd, after world premiering in Venice, from there heading to Netflix on December 20th.
Billed as an emotionally epic examination of family and love, Maestro tells the complex love story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan) — a story that spans over 30 years. Perhaps best known for his score to Broadway’s West Side Story and the classic Marlon Brando film On the Waterfront, Bernstein married the actress in 1951 and went on to share three children with her, with the couple splitting their time between New York and Connecticut. Complicating the dynamic between the duo were the affairs he had over the years, with both men and women, even as they were conducted with Felicia’s consenting awareness. The pair were separated at one point for a period of a year, though they ultimately stayed together until Felicia’s death in 1978.
Cooper wrote the Maestro script with Spotlight Oscar winner Josh Singer, and is also joined in the ensemble by Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Josh Hamilton, Scott Ellis, Gideon Glick, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton and Miriam Shor. Joining him in producing his latest feature, set in the world of music, were Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger. Exec producers included Carla Raij, Singer, Bobby Wilhelm, Weston Middleton and Tracey Landon.
While Maestro was announced as part of the Venice lineup late last month, Cooper has announced that he won’t be taking part there in publicity for the film, unless the SAG-AFTRA strike somehow gets wrapped up by the end of this month. But nonetheless, as we await the actors group’s solidifying of a new contract with the AMPTP, you can check out the film’s first teaser above and key art below.
