Marty Supreme Trailer: Timothée Chalamet Pursues Ambitious Ping Pong Aspirations in Josh Sadie's Newest Film

      “What will you do if this entire dream of yours fails?” someone inquires of Timothée Chalamet’s character, Marty Mauser, in the trailer for Josh Safdie’s upcoming film, Marty Supreme.

      “That thought doesn’t even cross my mind,” he responds.

      He might be misguided, as his aspiration is to become a ping pong champion. Can you name any ping pong celebrities? If not, you grasp the main dilemma of Marty’s character, which is effectively highlighted in the Marty Supreme trailer.

      Yet, the trailer somehow convinces you of the validity of Marty’s grand dream, however improbable it may appear, partly due to the use of the 1984 hit “Forever Young” by Alphaville. Although the song feels somewhat anachronistic for a story set in the 1950s, it remarkably fits.

      “This sport fills stadiums abroad,” Mauser states in the Marty Supreme trailer. “And it’s just a matter of time before I’m looking at you from the cover of a Wheaties box.”

      The theme’s slogan is straightforward: Dream Big.

      The logline provided by the studio reads: “Marty Mauser, a young man with an unappreciated dream, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.”

      Josh Safdie Returns as a Solo Director with Marty Supreme

      The film, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, and Fran Drescher, marks Josh Safdie’s latest project since the 2019 hit Uncut Gems, which he co-directed with his brother, Benny Safdie.

      Benny Safdie stated last year that the siblings are no longer directing together, which he referred to as a natural evolution. Josh Safdie has not provided any comments on this.

      Benny Safdie’s solo directorial debut, The Smashing Machine, is also a sports narrative: it stars Dwayne Johnson as UFC fighter Mark Kerr and premieres in October, two months prior to Marty Supreme, which releases on December 25. Both films are produced by A24.

      Although Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first recent film without his brother, it is not his first solo directorial venture: That distinction belongs to his 2008 film The Pleasure of Being Robbed, which he co-wrote with Eleonore Hendricks and directed himself. This film established his reputation for gritty, urban storytelling.

      He and Benny Safdie later co-directed several films, including 2009’s Daddy Longlegs, the 2013 documentary Lenny Cooke, 2014’s Heaven Knows What, and 2017’s Good Time, before attracting significant attention for A24, which featured Adam Sandler as a desperate jeweler deep in gambling debts.

      Marty Supreme is co-written by longtime Safdie collaborator Ronald Bronstein.

      Not much has been disclosed about the film, making the Marty Supreme trailer especially intriguing for fans of Safdie and Chalamet.

      One detail that surfaced early on is that Paltrow’s character, a film star, shares an intimate relationship with Marty.

      The 52-year-old actress humorously remarked to Vanity Fair about her scenes with the 29-year-old Chalamet: “I was like, ‘Okay, great. I’m 109 years old. You’re 14.’”

      Marty seemingly has multiple romantic interests in the film, as the trailer also depicts him kissing A’zion’s character passionately.

      Marty Supreme is set to hit theaters on December 25 from A24.

      Main image: Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme. A24.