John Malkovich wells up as Wild Horse Nine sparks Oscar buzz

John Malkovich got visibly emotional as he witnessed the 2026 Venice Film Festival's biggest standing ovation yet.

Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine elicited 13 minutes of applause at its world premiere on Thursday night, catapulting Malkovich into the Best Actor Oscar race.

"That is incredibly kind," Malkovich said of the awards chatter at an earlier press conference. "For me, it's a very nice thing. But the nicest thing is the film getting attention. And the film has several terrific performers, and it's beautifully written and directed. That's what matters to me."

Set in 1973, Wild Horse Nine follows two CIA officers, played by Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, who are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island shortly before the Chilean military coup that overthrew socialist president Salvador Allende. Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey also star.

Malkovich has often stolen the scene in his decades-long Hollywood career, starring in movies such as Dangerous Liaisons, Being John Malkovich, In the Line of Fire and Empire of the Sun. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards but hasn't won to date.

Wild Horse Nine, which will compete for the Golden Lion in Venice, marks director McDonagh's third feature to launch at Venice after 2017's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and 2022's The Banshees of Inisherin.

Three Billboards earned seven Oscar nominations and two wins, for Frances McDormand and Rockwell. The Banshees of Inisherin scored nine Academy Award nominations.