Disney / Searchlight Pictures had so much faith in director Guillermo del Toro’s noir thriller Nightmare Alley that they decided to give it a wide release in over 2000 theatres last month… but unfortunately, the movie did not draw many viewers to those theatres. After a month in release, Nightmare Alley – which reportedly had a budget around $60 million – has only made just over $9 million at the box office. Here’s hoping it will have better luck when it starts streaming. When it does, viewers are going to have the option of watching it on two different streaming services: due to a deal between Disney and Warner Media, Nightmare Alley will be streaming on both HBO Max and Hulu, beginning on February 1st.
Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham (which was previously turned into a movie in 1947), Nightmare Alley is set in “a world of carnival hustlers and con men, telling the story of a mentalist who teams with a psychologist in order to swindle the rich.” Here’s the official synopsis:
When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena and her has-been mentalist husband Pete at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
The film stars Bradley Cooper as Stanton Carlisle, Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Toni Collette as Zeena, David Strathairn as Pete, Rooney Mara as Molly, and Richard Jenkins as the “dangerous tycoon”. Also in the cast are Willem Dafoe, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Perlman, Holt McCallany, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Beaver, and David Hewlett.
Copies of Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley can be purchased at THIS LINK. Del Toro wrote the adaptation with Kim Morgan. The film has been rated R for “strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and language.”
Our own JimmyO gave Nightmare Alley a 9/10 review you can read HERE.