Gus Van Sant's newest film, Promised Land, is is putting itself in prime Oscar position, but entering one hell of a busy field at the same time. It's being reported that the drama, which stars Matt Damon and The Office's John Krasinski, will arrive in theaters on December 28th.
Deadline, which reported the news about the release date, says that the movie will start in limited release - just in Los Angeles and New York - and then will expand to other theaters nationwide in January. Dave Eggers developed the story and Damon and Krasinski wrote the script. Damon will play Steve Butler, a salesman who goes to a small bankrupt town with plans to get the residents to sell the drilling rights to their properties. While he believes that getting this done will be a cakewalk, he underestimates a grassroots campagin begun by Krasinski's character and a schoolteacher played by Hal Holbrook. Also starring in the film are Francis McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy, and Titus Welliver.
On Christmas Day, which is on the Tuesday before the 28th, theaters will be hosting Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, the Seth Rogen-Barbra Streisand comedy The Guilt Trip, and the Billy Crystal/Bette Midler/Marisa Tomei movie Parental Guidance. It's also worth mentioning that it will be coming out just one week after Judd Apatow's This is 40, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty and the Tom Cruise action film Jack Reacher (and both Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Tom Hooper's Les Miserables will still be around as well). Hopefully Promised Land doesn't get lost in the mix.
