The 2013 awards season race is so tight that even Harvey Weinstein is breaking a little bit of a sweat. He’s already moved his “Grace Of Monaco” out of the way, while last week came the bummer piece of news that Bennett Miller‘s excellent looking “Foxcatcher” was also being pushed to 2014, with both films choosing to wait to get it right rather than rush to finish to make a release a date. But the latter picture moving has meant a bit of turmoil for AFI Fest, who were going to premiere the film this year, but they’ve found some worthy additions to the event.
“Crazy Heart” director Scott Cooper‘s “Out Of The Furnace“—coincidentally pushed out of the 2012 race to wait for 2013—will slide into a centerpiece gala slot, though it’s not clear if it will make its world premiere (the film is also slated to play the Rome Film Festival which starts the day after AFI). In any event, it brings some major star power to the red carpet with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker starring in the Rust Belt drama about a man who goes on a quest to find his younger sibling who falls into the clutches of a crime ring.
Ben Stiller‘s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” have also been added to the AFI lineup, with more to come. But until then, a couple new pics from ‘Furnace,’ which opens on November 27th limited release before launching wide on December 6th. [The Wrap]
