James Gray brings Paper Tiger home to open New York Film Festival
James Gray is bringing Paper Tiger home to open the New York Film Festival.
The film takes the opening-night slot at the 64th edition of the festival with a gala screening on Friday, 25 September at Alice Tully Hall, marking its North American debut after a premiere in competition at Cannes, Gray told Deadline in an interview published on 25 September 2026.
Paper Tiger is a family crime drama set in the 1980s. It runs 115 minutes and stars Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson. The story centres on two brothers caught in a scheme that collides with the Russian mafia, as family ties strain under a health crisis.
It was shot on 35mm using vintage equipment, Gray said in the same interview. The festival will present it in 35mm as its Main Slate Opening Night selection.
For Gray, the slot is personal. He grew up in Queens, New York, and Paper Tiger is his seventh film set in the city. It is his fourth film to screen at the New York Film Festival and his first as the opener. His Lost City of Z closed the festival in 2016.
Gray has a long festival history. He won the Silver Lion at Venice for his 1994 debut Little Odessa. He has since had six films in competition at Cannes, the festival's main contest, starting with The Yards in 2000 and continuing with We Own The Night in 2007, Two Lovers in 2009, The Immigrant in 2013 and Armageddon Time in 2022, alongside Paper Tiger.
The business plan is already set. Neon, the film's distributor, will release Paper Tiger theatrically on 13 November and is using the New York slot to begin its awards campaign. The company will campaign Teller for Lead Actor, with Driver and Johansson in Supporting, alongside Best Picture and Directing and Original Screenplay for Gray.
The 64th New York Film Festival runs from 25 September through 12 October 2026, according to Film at Lincoln Center. Gray will also appear for a 60-minute conversation event at the Walter Reade Theater at 2:30pm on Saturday, 26 September.
What makes this stand out is the homecoming loop. A New York story, shot on film, returns to New York to start its next run. For audiences, that means a first chance to see it on a big screen, in its original format, before the November release.
