Last year, the sale of Miramax ended up delaying the release of a couple of films, namely John Madden‘s part-thriller, part romantic drama, “The Debt,” and Troy Nixey‘s Guillermo del Toro-produced “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark“; each were scheduled to hit theaters on December 29th and January 21st, respectively. Well, clearly those dates have come and gone but at least one of the films is now headed to a theatrical release.
Variety reveals that Focus Features will now distribute “The Debt,” priming it for a late summer release. Starring Sam Worthington, Marton Csokas and Jessica Chastain as three Mossad agents on the hunt for a Nazi war criminal, the flashback-laden part thriller, part romantic drama was one of the better scripts we’d read from Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass,” “Stardust“), and with a cast topped off by Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson, there is some definite promise in the picture.
Focus Features will release “The Debt” on August 31, and while Labor Day weekend is traditionally a bit of a dead zone, the studio did have some great success with “The American” last year on the same weekend and they are likely hoping to do that again. A trailer for the film already hit last year, and you can check it out below.