Miles Teller recently disclosed that James Gray claimed filming Paper Tiger during New York’s suffocating heat wave rivaled the agony of shooting in the Amazon. The movie that he was referring to was The Lost City of Z.  That comparison becomes even wilder considering Gray famously shot the Amazon epic entirely on 35mm film inside Colombia’s punishing remote jungles. The production avoided digital shortcuts, battled relentless humidity, and recreated the Amazon through physically demanding on-location filming. But even for him, sweaty Manhattan sidewalks are just as tropical.

While comparing the heat wave of NYC, it looks like after filming for Paper Tigers, Gray would not need to go into Colombian jungles to imitate the heat.

While promoting Paper Tiger at the Cannes Film Festival, Miles Teller painted the New York shoot less like glamorous moviemaking and more like collective heatstroke with camera equipment. The actor described endless days trapped beneath brutal temperatures, explaining that cast and crew rarely even had proper shade covering them.

“I know James shot an entire movie on the Amazon, and he said this was physically just as much more challenging.” Teller’s comparison carried unusual weight considering James Gray’s infamous commitment to realism on The Lost City of Z. James Gray, sitting beside Miles Teller, could not help but add weight to Teller's words with his frequent nods.

That dedication that fueled the filming now fuels Paper Tiger, Gray’s 2026 American crime drama that premiered in Competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2026. The project instantly became one of the Croisette’s most discussed late additions. Festival chatter only intensified once audiences inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière rewarded the premiere with an enthusiastic 10-minute standing ovation. For James Gray, the Cannes competition has practically become familiar territory. Paper Tiger marked the filmmaker’s sixth attempt at the Palme d'Or, further cementing his reputation as one of modern cinema’s most uncompromising auteurs.

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While the glowing Cannes Film Festival buzz and the dedication behind filming, that was the opposite of Remarkably Bright Creatures' filming location in terms of weather, James Gray’s crime drama still carries a hard-earned appeal entirely its own.

Beyond the standing ovations and Cannes Festival headlines, Paper Tiger appears to grip audiences through sheer emotional suffocation. James Gray transforms a familiar crime setup into something deeply intimate and quietly terrifying. Adam Driver’s performance as Gary avoids explosive theatrics entirely, instead unraveling through flickers of panic and collapsing confidence. Critics especially praise the tragic chemistry between Driver and Miles Teller’s role as the anxious younger brother.

Then comes the atmosphere, which sounds expensive, miserable, and entirely hypnotic. Joaquín Baca-Asay shot the film on lush 35mm stock that coats 1980s Queens in dying autumn colors and exhausted shadows. Christopher Spelman’s score reportedly hovers through the movie like impending financial ruin dressed as chamber music. Considering the suffocating heat wave Miles Teller described during production, Paper Tiger increasingly resembles less a film shoot and more a beautifully orchestrated endurance trial.

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What did you think of James Gray's comparison of the NYC heat to filming for an Amazon movie? Let us know in the comments down below!