Focus Features Puts Gus Van Sant-Matt Damon Pic ‘Promised Land’ Into Oscar Race
BREAKING: In a surprise move that adds another intriguing film to Oscar season, Focus Features has committed to release in a qualifying two city run Promised Land, the Gus Van Sant-directed film that stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski, both of whom wrote the script. The film will be released in exclusive engagements in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, December 28th, 2012, prior to an expansion in January. The film, based on a story by Dave Eggers, also stars Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married), Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Scoot McNairy (Killing Them Softly), Titus Welliver (The Town), and Oscar winner Frances McDormand. Participant Media co-financed the movie, for which Focus holds worldwide rights.
Damon plays Steve Butler, a corporate salesman who arrives in a rural town with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (McDormand). With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (Krasinski) who counters Steve both personally and professionally.
Damon and Krasinski produced the film with Chris Moore, the latter of whom teamed with Damon and Van Sant on Good Will Hunting.
Cool story premise with creatives who are deeply immersed in emotional mining of character, story and situation. I’m really looking forward to this..Good Will Hunting level of emotion and depth, seems like…
sounds like a re-do of the great “Local Hero”.
Sounds like that to me, too.
Good call. I look forward to a motor scooter passing randomly in the background.
Yes, that’s exactly what I thought.
Good Will Drilling
This sounds really good and what a great cast. The sub-genre of “buddy picture” sure as hell didn’t start with “Good Will Hunting.” I too am constantly glib but I’m really looking forward to this. What a great subject.
The premise sounds like the one presented in the “Gasland” documentary. Maybe Josh Fox should receive writer’s credit for this movie and be eligible to be nominated for another Oscar. At least we will know where Hollywood really stands on hydraulic frac’uring. I will go see the movie for entertainment value since I am a big fan of Frances McDormand and Matt Damon. Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” won great critical acclaim but bombed at the box office. Teaching morality by making a movie about your personal viewpoints about any subject including drilling for crude oil and natural gas is an insult to the intelligence of your audience. We don’t need Hollywood to teach us how to think about our critical environmental issues.
+1. I don’t think I’m “projecting” anything, it’s just that when I read a premise that has a “salesman” trying to acquire something (?) and the script has been written (and self-produced) by two guys who have ZERO experience in that industry, I think it’s easy to see that an “agenda” is going to be promoted at the expense of reality.
Maybe I should write a script about surgeons; I think they make too many mistakes and I do watch some of those medical shows. I’ll produce it myself because I think it’s “important” for people to hear what I have to say on the matter.
Sounds like the industry is so nervous about the consequences of fracking they automatically assume that any movie about it has to be critical.
Interesting.
Shilling for a fracking company is the moral equivalent of shilling for a tobacco company. The only difference is that in this case it’s the groundwater that gets the cancer.
Did you get a special screener or just see into the future? Shouldnt we watch it first before comment?
Somebody has to.
project much van der Valk?
If this film is anything but a comedy, it will absolutely Fail…yes, I used a capital “F”…it was absolutely necessary in this case.
Wow
Why is every body so harsh?
Let’s just watch the movie first…..you know, like we used to do.
They are all film warriors……maybe it will be amazing?
Give a project a chance before you criticize it.
respectfully…