The wait is almost over for fans of a sophomore collaboration between Brad Pitt and his 'Assassination Of Jesse James' director Andrew Dominik (it's been five years since that film and we were just celebrating the return of this excellent filmmaker). It's one of our most anticipated films of the year, and now The Weinstein Company has scheduled Dominik's "Cogan's Trade" for a September 21st release date which bodes well for a preview at Venice and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Starring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy and Bella Heathcote, "Cogan's Trade" — which is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by George V. Higgins (whose first novel, "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" was the source for the excellent 1973 film starring Robert Mitchum) — centers on Jackie Cogan (Pitt) a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game.
Those wondering why the director of the elegiac and somber "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford" would want to direct a comedy should look no further than the director's debut, "Chopper," a film that masterfully blended dark humor with a rather disturbing and unhinged protagonist played wonderfully by Eric Bana.
So far the film won't have a lot of competition as it faces off that weekend against Lionsgate's "Dredd," Columbia's animated "Hotel Transylvania 3D" (arguably a big film, but not in direct competition for the same audience) and Relavtivity's "House At The End of The Street." [Box Office Mojo]