WILD HORSE NINE (2026): New Martin McDonagh Film Gets 14-Minute-Plus Ovation at Venice

Wild Horse Nine Gets Long Ovation at Venice

Wild Horse Nine, the newest film from Martin McDonagh, earned a nearly 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, which suggests Oscar soon may be calling.

It would be hard for most actors to “pull rank” on John Malkovich because the veteran performer delivers the performance of a lifetime, according to most critics, in Wild Horse Nine. This new film from Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) earned a 14-minute and 44 second standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. Oscar nods are bound to happen if that audience is correct in their assertion of McDonagh’s latest picture.

In Wild Horse Nine, which is set in the early 1970’s, a couple of CIA agents find themselves immersed in trouble at the time in history right before the Chilean coup. Set on Easter Island, the picture stars Malkovich and Academy Award winner, Sam Rockwell, in the lead roles. It is set to be released on November 6th in theaters, but as of now, the movie is playing like gangbusters on the festival circuit as a prelude to its probable Oscar glory.

What makes Wild Horse Nine so interesting is that it’s a complete 180 for director McDonagh from The Banshees of Inisherin, judging from a couple of the early reviews. This movie has a different take on friendship, according to sources, and is almost guaranteed to seal Oscar nominations for the brilliant Malkovich, the movie’s director, the film’s script and, of course, Rockwell, himself.

Malkovich, previously nominated for his supporting role as a vicious psychopath in Clint Eastwood’s In the Line of Fire, could find himself competing with the likes of Matt Damon (The Odyssey) in the leading actor category at the Academy Awards. Also likely to be joining them in the Best Actor race this year is John Turturro (The Only Living Pickpocket in New York) for his movie, which is due out in October.

If the reviews hold, Wild Horse Nine could be the first film to win McDonagh a Best Director Oscar. Though Christopher Nolan is going to be the likely winner for helming the masterpiece, The Odyssey, anything could happen in the directing category as the Academy Awards always love an upset. McDonagh should have won for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but lost in one of the most disappointing turn of events in recent Oscar history.

John Malkovich’s time has certainly come, and this new film will most likely land him smack dab in the middle of the Best Actor Oscar race. Wild Horse Nine also co-stars Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey. This film’s studio, Searchlight, is probably hoping for at least a box-gross in the $40 million range worldwide after a couple of financial disappointments last year like Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?.

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