Focus Features
Matt Damon is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter. Yeah, we forgot too. After his acting career took off in the afterglow of "Good Will Hunting," Damon settled into a nice groove acting in hit after hit, but only co-wrote one other screenplay, for director Gus Van Sant's cryptic experiment "Gerry."
That's all changed now that he's reunited with Van Sant, back in feel-good "Will Hunting" mode, who's going to take Damon to the "Promised Land"… and possibly the Oscars, as seen in the new trailer via iTunes.
Based on an idea by hipster novelist Dave Eggers, "Promised Land" revolves around a small town community who get a visit from a natural gas salesman named Steve Butler (Damon) whose company wants to acquire the land for fracking, i.e. oil drilling. While the impoverished citizens are razzle-dazzled at first with the promise of easy money, Butler gets upstaged by an environmental rabble-rouser aptly named Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), and may just learn the meaning of true happiness in the simple life.
Damon co-wrote the script with Krasinski, and had originally been lined-up to make his directorial debut until schedules prevented it. He called on his old buddy Van Sant, and now the two seem poised to possibly recreate their 1997 success since Focus Features decided to give "Promised Land" an Academy Award-qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles beginning Dec. 28, 2012, with a wider opening in January.
The impressive supporting cast boasts the lovely Rosemarie DeWitt, Oscar-winner Frances McDormand, and 87-year-old Hal Holbrook still kickin' it old school on the big screen. Check out the full-trailer below…
