‘The Holdovers’ trailer: Paul Giamatti stars as a 1970s teacher
Paul Giamatti plays an uptight history teacher who befriends a student when they’re stuck at school over the holidays in the dramedy “The Holdovers.”
- Miramax is adapting its 2023 film “The Holdovers” into a television series.
- The original film’s director, Alexander Payne, may return for the series.
- The film “The Holdovers” won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
FAIRHAVEN — The successful Academy Award-winning holiday movie “The Holdovers,” filmed in the Fairhaven and New Bedford area, has been rumored to become a TV show since April 2025.
So where does that potential project stand now?
According to GamerActor.com, Miramax is in the early stages of developing a TV series based on the beloved movie, aiming to further explore its heartwarming world and cherished characters, much like other successful film-to-TV adaptations.
The studio said it hopes to involve director Alexander Payne and possibly other key figures from the original film in the project. As the series is still in development, specific plot details and a release date have not yet been announced.
Head of Miramax Jonathan Glickman mentioned in a statement about involving Payne in the development: “You need to have some connective tissue with the original property. It gives legitimacy to a project so it doesn’t seem like just a cash grab.”
Filmed around the Massachusetts area, the production spent a few days in the Fairhaven area shooting inside Fairhaven High School as well as inside the James Arnold Mansion in New Bedford.
“The Holdovers” is available to watch for a small fee on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango Home and Google Play Movies.
Fall River native Pamela Jayne Morgan had a role in film as a waitress who refuses to serve the restaurant’s prized dessert cherry jubilee because one of the ingredients is alcohol and there was an underage kid at the table.
“I would be thrilled to see this turned into a series because the overall storyline relative to Paul Giamatti’s character taking Dominic Sessa under his wing is a heartwarming story,” Morgan said in a past interview with the Standard-Times.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph took home the Best Actress In a Supporting Role Academy Award for the film in 2023. The film was also nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Original Screenplay.
What is the movie about?
According to IMDb.com, set during the Christmas holiday at the prestigious Barton Academy, the story follows a small group of students (dubbed the “holdovers”) who, due to various personal reasons, are unable to go home and must stay on the empty campus.
Supervision falls to Paul Hunham, a strict and unpopular ancient civilizations teacher forced into the role as punishment by the headmaster after failing a wealthy student. Alongside him is Mary Lamb, the head cook, who is grieving the recent death of her son in the Vietnam War.
While initially overseeing five students, a parent soon whisks four boys away on a ski trip, leaving only 15-year-old Angus Tully, a bright but troubled teen at risk of expulsion and left at school when his newly remarried mother goes on her honeymoon.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie stands tall with a near-perfect 97% score. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it “Alexander Payne’s warmest film yet.”
Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
