A fantasy epic about a zookeeper’s son adrift at sea with a Bengal tiger. A New Jersey-set drama by the “Sopranos’’ creator that swaps rockers for gangsters. And a popcorn thriller starring Denzel Washington as a heroic pilot with a dark secret.
These are the high-profile world premieres — all from major Hollywood studios — at the 50th edition of the New York Film Festival, which also promises plenty of the tightly curated art-house fare with which the fest has been closely identified for the past 50 years.
Festivities open tomorrow night with Ang Lee’s much-anticipated “Life of Pi,” an adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel starring newcomer Suraj Sharma as the shipwrecked Indian teenager, which arrives in theaters Nov. 21. (Because Lee was reportedly working on it until the last minute, “Pi’’ wasn’t screened early for press — the longtime custom for opening-night films — and will be reviewed tomorrow at nypost.com/blogs/movies.)
Also getting gala treatment before hitting theaters Dec. 21 is the festival’s centerpiece, “Not Fade Away,” the film directing debut of “Sopranos’’ capo David Chase. James Gandolfini has a supporting role in this semi-autobiographical tale about 1960s suburban teens in the Garden State who form a rock band and try to make it big.
The festival will close Oct. 14 with the red-carpet premiere of “Flight,” director Robert Zemeckis’ first live-action film since he switched to animation following “Cast Away’’ in 2000. Washington stars opposite Melissa Leo as a pilot whose role in averting a crash raises all sorts of issues in the film, which opens in theaters Nov. 2.
The rest of the main slate — a record 33 titles, up from 28 last year — is largely foreign-language films that premiered in Cannes and other festivals. Among them is “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” an all-star comedy from 90-year-old French director Alain Resnais, whose “Muriel’’ was in the very first NYFF way back in 1963.
Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva as a couple in their final years, copped the top prize at Cannes, while “Caesar Must Die” — a drama about convicts performing Shakespeare, from Italy’s veteran brother team of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani — took top honors at the Berlin Film Festival.
Fresh from their bows in Toronto last month are the Big Apple premieres of “Hyde Park on Hudson,” (with Bill Murray as a randy President Franklin Delano Roosevelt); Noah Baumbach’s “Frances Ha,” a romantic comedy starring his girlfriend, mumblecore goddess Greta Gerwig; and Brian De Palma’s sexy thriller “Passion,” with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
The New York Film Festival has also beefed up its sidebar screenings, introducing a series of less arty midnight movies. There are a brace of retrospectives, including fresh restorations of “Lawrence of Arabia,” and “The Princess Bride,” the latter accompanied by a reunion of original cast members. Also on tap is Michael Cimino’s new director’s cut of the infamous Western flop “Heaven’s Gate,” which NYFF programmers would have us believe is an underappreciated masterpiece.
There are also gala tributes to Richard Pena — retiring this year after serving as director of programming for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, NYFF’s parent, since 1988 — and Nicole Kidman, who, as a sex-crazed woman, soothes a jellyfish bite on reporter Zac Efron by peeing on him in “The Paperboy.” Something for everyone.
Tickets and other info: filmlinc.com. New York Film Festival reviews and more at nypost.com/blogs/movies.