AFI Fest will host the premiere of Chuck Lorre’s next half-hour sitcom, “The Kominsky Method,” the festival announced on Thursday.
The comedy stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin as past-his-prime actor Sandy Kominsky and his longtime agent Norman Newlander, who navigate life in Los Angeles long after Hollywood has moved on without them.
The first three episodes will be screened at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Nov. 10. Written by Lorre with Al Higgins and David Jauerbaum, the eight-episode series will be released on Netflix later this year.
AFI will also hold a gala screening on Nov. 12 for another upcoming Netflix title, “Bird Box,” which stars Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, and John Malkovich. Directed by Susanne Bier — and selected as part of AFI Fest’s efforts to prominently feature female directors — “Bird Box” follows a mother and two children in a post-apocalyptic world where a mysterious threat takes the life of anyone who sees it, with the family forced to make the two day journey to safety blindfolded.
Three potential Oscar contenders will also be screened at the festival: Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book,” Steve McQueen’s “Widows,” and the Coen Brothers’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
“Scruggs” is a Western anthology film that tells six short tales about life in the Old West, and will be screened on Nov. 11. “Green Book,” which will be screen on Nov. 9, stars Viggo Mortensen as New York bouncer Tony Lip and Mahershala Ali as famed jazz performer Dr. Don Shirley, and tells the story of their unlikely friendship as Tony drives Don through the Deep South on his latest tour.
“Widows,” which will screen Nov. 14 and is written by “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn, follows the widows of four thieves who are killed by police during a heist, and who decide to complete their dead husbands’ next plan. The film’s all-star cast is led by Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, and Elizabeth Debicki as the quartet of widows.
AFI Fest will begin on Nov. 8 with the world premiere of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On the Basis of Sex,” and close with the world premiere of “Mary Queen of Scots.” More information on the festival can be found here.