Neon Buys ‘Vox Lux’ Following Venice and TIFF Buzz for Natalie Portman’s Acclaimed Performance

Neon has purchased distribution rights to Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux” out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film has earned universal acclaim for Natalie Portman‘s performance as a pop diva. Variety reports the indie distributor is now in the process of figuring out a release date, with an eye on a possible launch this year to qualify the movie for Oscar consideration.

“Vox Lux” stars Portman as Celeste, a struggling international pop star whose comeback plans are threatened by a tragedy that links to her past. The drama is the latest from indie actor Brady Corbet, who made his feature debut with “The Childhood of a Leader.” While the subject matter in “Vox Lux” has proven polarizing, Portman’s performance has been hailed as one of her most ferocious turns yet. The actress doesn’t appear in the film until the halfway point, so it’s unclear whether Neon would campaign for actress or supporting actress should they want to get “Lux” into the Oscar race this year.

Neon had great success in 2017 with another TIFF pickup,  “I, Tonya.” The distributor picked up the Tanya Harding drama after its buzzy world premiere and it ended up earning three Oscar nominations: Margot Robbie for best actress, Allison Janney for best supporting actress, and best film editing. Janney won the prize earlier this year.

“Vox Lux” co-stars Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy, and Stacey Martin and features original music by Sia. The title is the second Neon pickup of TIFF 2018 after “Wild Rose.” Click here for all of this year’s TIFF acquisitions.