In 1951, Eddie Mannix, a Capitol Pictures executive whose job is keeping the studio's stars out of scandal, faces an especially difficult day. While he juggles gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker and considers a lucrative offer from the Lockheed Corporation, the studio is shooting Hail, Caesar!, a lavish epic about ancient Rome. Its lead actor, Baird Whitlock, vanishes, and Mannix must find him without letting the news leak. The story blends mystery with a satire of classic Hollywood, following a web of characters who cross paths on sets and in offices.

How it was made

The project dates back to 2004, when the Coen brothers first floated it as a loose idea set in the 1920s, about actors performing a play about ancient Rome. After a long pause, they confirmed in 2013 that it was in development, now centred on a studio fixer in 1950s Hollywood. Principal photography began in November 2014 in Los Angeles. Roger Deakins shot the film and Carter Burwell composed the score, while the Coens wrote, produced, edited and directed it. The cast includes George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, and the film affectionately parodies the genres of the era: the western, the aquatic musical and the Roman epic.

Reception and legacy

The film premiered in February 2016, opening the Berlin International Film Festival. It grossed around $63 million worldwide and received largely positive reviews, though audiences were less enthusiastic. The National Board of Review named it one of the ten best films of 2016, and it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design. Over time it has been regarded as an affectionate and ironic look at the classic studio era, in which the fictional films within the film question our nostalgia for that period.