Adam Driver’s ‘Paper Tiger’ To Open New York Film Festival

Actor Adam Driver, best known for playing Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, will reportedly be in attendance when “Paper Tiger” opens the New York Film Festival later this year. The film, directed by James Gray, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received rave reviews. The film also stars Driver’s “Marriage Story” costar Scarlett Johansson and “Top Gun: Maverick” star Miles Teller.

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“Paper Tiger,” the crime drama directed by James Gray, will open the 64^th New York Film Festival on September 25. This is Gray’s fourth film to appear at the film festival, following 2013’s “The Immigrant” and 2022’s “Armageddon Time,” which were both official main selections. 2016’s “The Lost City of Z” was the closing night film.

The film, which premiered at Cannes and received a seven-minute standing ovation, features two brothers: Irwin Pearl (Teller) and Gary Pearl (Driver). Irwin gets entangled with the Russian mafia after Gary, a former cop, drags him into a get-rich-quick scheme that quickly goes sideways and puts Irwin’s two sons and his wife (Johansson) in danger.

Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller Expected To Attend NYFF

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“James Gray has been a fixture at the New York Film Festival for many years, and we are thrilled to welcome him back as our Opening Night filmmaker with a career-best achievement,” NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim said in a statement to Variety.

Director James Gray added, “I’m immensely grateful to be welcomed back to this remarkable festival. This deeply personal film is rooted in New York City; from my upbringing to life-changing family experiences. To be here, at the heart of art and cinema, with our cast and crew — many of whom are New Yorkers — is a privilege.”

Gray, along with members of the cast and crew – including Driver, Johannson, and Teller – is expected to attend the premiere. NYFF64 single tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 15, at noon Eastern Time. Presale access for FLC members and pass holders will be available before then.

Miles Teller Talks Working With Adam Driver On ‘Paper Tiger’

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As The Blast previously reported, “Eternity” actor Miles Teller talked to IndieWire about working with Adam Driver on the set of the crime drama. He described one scene in which he is acting opposite Driver, and he is so angry that his face quivers with rage.

“At least in my own life, your family can get to you in a way that nobody else can,” Teller explained. “Those feelings are so deeply rooted and established from childhood, so I guess in that moment, and neither one is fully aware of the ramifications of the Russians, this deal going bad, and how it’s affecting that person in their life.”

“In that particular scene, you’re letting out. It’s not just about what they’re talking about right there,” he continued. “It’s an entire lifetime of misgivings — he’s going to let him have it.”

Scarlett Johansson Wanted More Scenes With Adam Driver

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Scarlett Johansson played Driver’s estranged wife in 2019’s “Marriage Story.” In “Paper Tiger,” she plays Teller’s wife. That being said, she wished that she got to film more scenes with the “Star Wars” alum.

She told The Hollywood Reporter, “I would’ve loved to have had even more scenework with him,” adding, “I love working with him.”

In 2025, she told PEOPLE magazine that she had a “great” experience working with Driver on the set of the 2019 divorce drama. “I love Adam as a person, and he is an absolutely extraordinary actor,” she said at the time. “If I could make every movie with Adam Driver, I would.”

Adam Driver Answered A Question About Lena Dunham’s Memoir Claims At Cannes

In her 2026 memoir “Famesick,” Lena Dunham alleged that Driver could become aggressive while they were filming the hit HBO comedy “Girls.” In one passage, she detailed how he “hurled a chair at the wall” and screamed obscenities after she forgot her lines.

“I remember doing a fight scene with Adam and how scary it was to meet someone so totally present with such absence,” Dunham wrote in her tell-all book. “Late one night, as we practiced lines in my trailer, I found that mine were suddenly gone. I knew I’d written them. I’d known them only minutes before. But when I opened my mouth, all that came out was a stammer — until finally, Adam screamed, ‘F-CKING SAY SOMETHING’ and hurled a chair at the wall next to me. ‘WAKE THE F-CK UP,’ he told me. ‘I’M SICK OF WATCHING YOU JUST STARE.’”

At the Cannes press conference following the “Paper Tiger” premiere, Driver was asked about the allegations. “I have no comment on any of that,” he said, as per Deadline. “I’m saving it all for my book.”