While Universal's decision to move Oliver Stone's "Savages" from a fall release date to a prime summer slot on the same weekend that "The Amazing Spider-Man" hits theaters may seem like a strange choice, there's a certain logic to it from a counter-programming perspective. And moreover, it seems to be in the oddball spirit of the director himself, who usually doesn't miss an opportunity to provoke and challenge when given half the chance. And while we'll have to wait and see if the gamble will pay off, with just a couple weeks to go the studio has dropped a generous helping of new images of the film, giving us a chance to see what Stone is pulling together for his latest, pulpier effort.
Based on the book by Don Winslow, who wrote the script with Shane Salerno and Oliver Stone, the film follows two California pot dealers (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) whose mutual girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped when they refuse to surrender their turf to a Mexican cartel. And yeah, shit gets intense from there. The director has rounded up a pretty crack supporting cast including John Travolta as a DEA agent, Benicio Del Toro as a hitman, Salma Hayek as the head of the cartel, "A Better Life" star and Oscar nominee Demian Bichir as a crooked lawyer, and much more. We gotta admit we're curious, and even if it's a trainwreck, there's no doubt it'll be a fascinating one.
"Savages" opens on July 6th. Check out the pics below, which also include better versions of the Instagram-style pics that dropped last month.
