Aman Goyal
Timothée Chalamet will soon be trying his hand at the ping pong tables in New York! The filming of ‘Marty Supreme,’ the highly anticipated sports drama from Josh Safdie and A24, will start in the Empire State in September. Chalamet, who stars as the legendary table tennis player Marty Reisman alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, also serves as a producer on the project. Josh penned the screenplay along with Ronald Bronstein.
The plot chronicles the remarkable life of Reisman, whose career spanned over six decades between the 1940s and early 2000s. A native of Manhattan, he was celebrated for his acrobatic skills and charismatic performances, which made him known as the “Wizard of Table Tennis.” However, he had to deal with a myriad of tragedies and competition throughout his life. Reisman turned to hardbat table tennis for betting, which revived him during a difficult period in his life.
A prodigy in his sport, Reisman went on to win five bronze medals at the World Table Tennis Championships across various divisions by the age of 22. He also became the oldest player to win an open national competition in a racket sport at 67. Having won 22 major titles, he was famed for his entertaining showmanship, even performing ping-pong comedy routines alongside Jonathan Katz. He is affectionately referred to as “the Needle” for his slimness and quick wit.
Chalamet is riding high on the acclaim received by his latest movie roles, Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Two’ and Willy Wonka in ‘Wonka.’ He has already cemented his place as one of the leading actors to tackle challenging dramatic roles, as evidenced by his outings as Lee in ‘Bones and All,’ Elio in ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ both by Luca Guadagnino, and Laurie in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women.’ The actor is set to showcase his versatility further in the upcoming James Mangold biopic ‘A Complete Unknown,’ in which he portrays a young Bob Dylan.
The project marks Paltrow’s first major feature role in five years. With the exception of an uncredited voice role in the 2022 film, ‘She Said,’ her last movie appearance was in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ Since then, she has played Georgina Hobart in Netflix’s ‘The Politician’ and lent her voice to Daphne in ‘American Horror Stories.’
‘Marty Supreme’ also marks Josh’s return to the director’s chair since his acclaimed work in 2019’s ‘Uncut Gems,’ which he directed with his brother and directing partner, Benny Safdie. The upcoming sports biopic will be his first solo feature film since his 2008 debut, ‘The Pleasure of Being Robbed,’ and second overall. The Safdie brothers are also reuniting for an untitled Adam Sandler-Megan Thee Stallion project, which is currently on hold.
Bronstein, the co-writer of the movie, has been a frequent collaborator of Josh and Benny, having co-penned the screenplays of their acclaimed films ‘Good Time,’ ‘Heaven Knows What,’ and ‘Daddy Longlegs.’ His other works include the 2007 indie feature ‘Frownland,’ which he also co-directed.
The choice of New York as the location reflects the film’s focus on Reisman’s roots, which can be traced back to the Lower East Side in Manhattan, where he spent his younger days. Among the many popular productions shot in this area of New York are ‘Donnie Brasco,’ ‘Bringing Out the Dead,’ ‘Independence Day,’ and ‘The Godfather Part III.’ As the production begins, fans can expect further casting announcements and look forward to seeing Chalamet bring the legendary player’s story to life.
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