New trailer just dropped (the second one below), and this continues to look incredible, backed by effusive, movie-of-the-year praise so far on the festival circuit. From writer/director Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time), Marty Supreme releases Christmas Day and I cannot wait...

Marty Supreme
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32916440/
December 25, 2025
Theatrical Exclusive

I am not sure I can take a movie about Ping Pong seriously. Seeing him act so confident/cocky about Ping Pong made me chuckle a little.

I'm assuming this is a true story?

From everything I've read, it sounds like that's kind of the point... that Marty's basically delusional in his confidence about himself and the sport, in a flawed manner. This is from Josh Safdie, after all, so it's not going to be a traditional/inspirational underdog sports movie. And whether it's based on a true story or not ties into all of that...

Quote:

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And what type of film is Marty Supreme? It's certainly still a Safdie movie - this thing moves fast, its feel for dread and anxiety swelling by the minute, while relishing every second spent playing in its gritty New York sandbox. But Safdie has applied that signature aesthetic to a story of much grander scope, of an American misfit who dreams big.

In the end, this is not a biopic of Marty Reisman, even if some biographical details are peppered into the story in "homage," as Safdie puts it. "He was my entry point into the world." Instead, the film, set in 1952, follows the fictional Marty Mauser, grinding it in New York's table tennis scene and on the precipice of a major break. He sells shoes on the side to make a living, but is determined to prove himself as the world champion of a sport most in his life consider a joke. He talks a big game and is recklessly relentless in pursuit of his goal. His odyssey to cobble together the money to fly to Japan and defeat his great rival, Koto Endo (played by real-life table tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi), gets scaled up to a sweeping, evocative period drama.

"My goal was to make it as large as I possibly could," Safdie says. "I wanted to honor Marty Mauser's dream to make it the greatest sport in the world. I like imagining an alternative path of history where the sport did become as big as tennis - and I had to act that way because I was making it from Marty's point of view." Marty being a Jewish American hurtling toward a major global spectacle - "I'm Hitler's worst nightmare," he muses at one point - also puts him in a position of fascinating historical significance. "He's accidentally claiming some sort of diplomacy between him and [Koto], just based on his own dream and this other guy's own dream," Safdie says.

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/timothee-chalamet-josh-safdie-marty-supreme-1236394182/

I'll see it, because I like most films that have Chalamet in them.

My own personal hang-up, but i'm not sure I can get past the ping pong. Guess we'll see

Josh Safdie’s ‘MARTY SUPREME’ debuts with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

It is the second highest rated live-action movie of Timothée Chalamet’s career behind ‘LADY BIRD’

Read our review: https://t.co/RiHS3bK9ro pic.twitter.com/jFhdEcPex5

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 1, 2025

MARTY SUPREME Review Round Up:

RogerEbert - 4/4
Guardian - 5/5
Variety - 5/5
Telegraph - 5/5
Standard - 5/5
Empire - 5/5
DenOfGeek - 5/5
HeyUGuys - 5/5
BBC - 4/5
Independent - 4/5
The Times - 4/5
JoBlo- 10/10
SlashFilm- 10/10
IGN- 9/10
Collider- 8/10
IndieWire- A #MartySupreme pic.twitter.com/sOyNGi3CsC

— The Movie Badger (@TheMovieBadger) December 1, 2025

From what I can gather and know about Safdie as a director. I feel this will be Uncut Gems mixed with a Damien Chazelle. Meaning a likeable character who wants to be great, works hard, but can't get out of their own way. They have a clear vision and drive, but make questionable, stressful choices to reach that goal. It should be fast-paced, well-acted, and not have a happy ending.

All that said, really excited about this film!

Great new spot...

“A full-throttle masterpiece.” MARTY SUPREME CHRISTMAS DAY pic.twitter.com/sw6WBGyG0f

— A24 (@A24) December 3, 2025

‘MARTY SUPREME’ has had the biggest per theater average gross for a film in almost a decade

Earning $875K from 6 theaters this weekend pic.twitter.com/Djl3YEXd34

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 21, 2025

Got some big shoes to fill to top the only other ping pong movie I can think of - Forest Gump.

Timothée Chalamet has become the first person to appear on top of The Sphere in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/W9pwhKzlR4

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 22, 2025

I care much more about the quality of the film (which seems like it will be high) than the box office, but what do you think it needs to make to be considered a success? Or will great reviews and Oscar noms be enough? Timmy is going all out for this one.

I think a Chalamet Oscar win + a few other nominations will likely be enough. That said, with a reported $70M budget it can probably make its money back, but who knows. I literally have no idea how it's going to perform.

I agree with that. The budget is smaller than I would have guessed, but yeah, if you told me $15 million or $100 million, I wouldn't be shocked. I do think it will be closer to 15 than 100, though. Looking at movie times for the days after Christmas, it's showing in smaller theaters, presumably bc of Avatar still owning the biggest screens.