August // 2026
From Denville Township to Brighton Beach: Where Paper Tiger was filmed
Paper Tiger
James Gray set his debut film on Brighton Beach Avenue in 1994. Thirty-two years later, he came back — with Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson, a $15 million budget and a story about two brothers whose pursuit of the American Dream pulls them into a Russian mafia nightmare. Paper Tiger filmed across Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, Bergen County in New Jersey, Forest Hills in Queens, and the suburbs of Denville, Bayonne and Newark between June and late 2025.
The film had its world premiere in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, where it received a ten-minute standing ovation. It opens in select US theatres on November 13, 2026, expanding wide on November 20. It will also open the 2026 New York Film Festival — the festival that first championed Gray's work thirty years ago.
Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
Gray told the Cannes Film Festival press that Paper Tiger represents a return to Brighton Beach — the neighbourhood of Russian Jewish immigrants in southern Brooklyn where Little Odessa was set in 1994 and where the world of the Pearl family in this film is rooted. In late June 2025, Adam Driver and Miles Teller were spotted filming on Brighton Beach Avenue, near the intersection with Brighton 5th Street.
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New Jersey: Bergen County, Denville, Bayonne and Newark
Principal photography began in early June 2025 in Denville Township, New Jersey. On June 3, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller were spotted filming in Denville.
The production then moved through Bergen County. On July 8, 2025, crews filmed in Teaneck — on Griggs Avenue, Beatrice Avenue and Belle Avenue, according to Mayor Mark Schwartz. Bergenfield, also in Bergen County, was used as an additional location.
Bayonne and Newark also feature in the production's New Jersey footprint.
Paper Tiger opens in select US theatres on November 13, 2026, expanding wide on November 20.
SOURCE
Wikipedia // Instagram // IMDb
CREDITS
RT Features, AK Productions
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