John Malkovich to receive Santa Barbara festival's Outstanding Performer honour

John Malkovich will be honoured with the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 42nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his performance in Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine," Variety reported.

The prize is the festival's tribute to a leading screen performance. It will go to Malkovich for his work in McDonagh's new film. The 42nd edition of the festival will run Feb. 3-13 in Santa Barbara.

In "Wild Horse Nine," Malkovich stars alongside Sam Rockwell. The two actors play CIA agents, officers of the American intelligence service, on a journey together. They travel from Santiago, the Chilean capital, to Easter Island, the remote island territory in the Pacific.

The story is set the day before the 1973 Chilean coup, the military takeover that removed the country's government. The film follows the pair as that date approaches. It is a two-hander, built around the two men and the road between those places.

The film has already moved through the late-summer festival circuit. It screened at Telluride, Toronto and Venice, three of the main launchpads where new films meet critics, buyers and audiences for the first time. Malkovich won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for the role. That win came first.

General audiences will get their chance soon. "Wild Horse Nine" is releasing in theatres on Nov. 6, when tickets go on sale to the public. The Santa Barbara honour will then follow in February.

The festival is led by executive director Roger Durling. His team gives the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award as one of its headline tributes each winter, with an on-stage celebration of the recipient's work.

What makes this stand out is the momentum. Three festival screenings in quick succession. A Best Actor win in Venice. Now a named winter honour already in place before the film has opened to the public.