Paper Tiger, the new crime drama from director James Gray, is about to arrive in theaters. NEON has put tickets on sale for the film, which stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, and confirmed that it opens in select theaters this Friday before expanding everywhere for Thanksgiving. NEON shared the update yesterday. Check out the official post down below:
What Paper Tiger Is About
According to NEON's official logline, the film is a "deeply felt and intense drama" about 2 brothers who get pulled into a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true. As they try to find their way through the dangerous world of the Russian mafia, their family bonds begin to fray, with life-altering consequences.
Driver plays Gary Pearl, a former police officer, and Teller plays his younger brother Irwin Pearl. Johansson plays Hester Pearl, Irwin's wife. Gavin Goudey and Roman Engel play Irwin and Hester's sons, Scott and Ben. Scott is 18 and getting ready for college. Victor Ptak plays Simeon Bogoyavich, the Russian mob boss that Gary and Irwin run afoul of. The cast also includes Cindy Katz, Yavor Vesselinov, Joel Marsh Garland and Rosslyn Luke.
A Cannes Competition Title
Paper Tiger played in Competition at the 2026 Festival de Cannes, where it was in contention for the Palme d'Or. The film runs 115 minutes, and the production companies listed by the festival are RT Features and Leone Film Group.
The festival described the film as a return to Brighton Beach for Gray. His 1994 debut, Little Odessa, was set in the same south Brooklyn neighborhood, with Tim Roth as a hit man forced to return to the place where he grew up. Cannes says that 30 years later, Gray goes back to his point of origin with the same community, the same geography and the same themes of guilt and loyalty, telling a story of 2 brothers caught in the Russian mafia underworld and an American dream that turns into a nightmare. The festival also points out that Driver and Johansson reunite on screen for the first time since Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story.
Paper Tiger is Gray's latest film in Competition at Cannes, joining a list that includes The Yards in 2000, Two Lovers in 2008, The Immigrant in 2013 and Armageddon Time in 2022. The festival notes that New York has been a constant across those films, along with complicated family dynamics. Armageddon Time, with Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Strong, went back to Gray's own childhood in 1980s Queens.
How Paper Tiger Came Together
Gray first talked about a follow-up to Armageddon Time while promoting that film in 2022, saying he wanted to tell a story about his family from his parents' perspective, with elements of a crime drama. In November 2024, the project was set as his next film with Driver, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong. By May 2025, Hathaway and Strong had left because of other commitments, and Johansson and Teller replaced them.
Principal photography started in early June 2025 in Denville Township, New Jersey, with cinematographer Joaquín Baca-Asay shooting the film on 35mm. Gray has confirmed that the film had a $15 million budget. NEON acquired the North American rights in April 2026.
When Paper Tiger Opens
Paper Tiger opens in select theaters this Friday, November 13, and NEON says it will be in theaters everywhere for Thanksgiving. Tickets are on sale now through NEON's site. Another film arriving in theaters this week is The Mosquito Bowl, as covered in The Mosquito Bowl Heads To Theaters This Week Before Landing On Netflix. Check out the official trailer for Paper Tiger below:
Are you planning to see Paper Tiger in theaters, and how do you think Adam Driver and Miles Teller work as brothers?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.