David O. Russell would seem to be on a bit of a roll. His last film, Silver Linings Playbook, was major player through all of last awards season (including Oscar nominations for all its principle actors and a win for Jennifer Lawrence). It saw an extended theatrical run on the back of that critical success that boosted it past an anemic opening weekend to eventually gross more than $200 million worldwide. Two years before, The Fighter scored major popular and critical successes as well. Can you fault Russell for trying to bottle the same magic for a third time?
As we’ve previously reported, the cast of Russell’s new film, American Hustle, is primarily comprised of vets of either The Fighter (Christian Bale, Amy Adams) or Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro). Today, we’ve gotten to see them in action along with fellow lead Jeremy Renner for the first time with the release of the first trailer. Take a look:
If you were worried about screen time for your favorite star, the trailer certainly suggests there will be plenty to go around. All to the tune of Led Zeppelin, of course. But in all seriousness, with the collective pedigree of all involved it’s hard to imagine this won’t garner some major end-of-year consideration (not to mention a box office score). Distributor Columbia Pictures would certainly seem to have both in mind; they’re giving the film a limited release starting December 13, but it expands nationwide Christmas day, which should not only take advantage of the holiday box office spike, but also put American Hustle front and center in the minds of awards voters.
Not that it won’t have competition. Christmas is especially busy this year, with potential crowd pleasers 47 Ronin and Jack Ryan hitting theaters alongside the likes of Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and August: Osage County on the 25th, a Wednesday, with Mark Wahlberg’s Lone Survivor following just two days later. Oh, and all that comes just a week after Anchorman: The Legend Continues and Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks. Get ready, folks. It’s going to be a holly, jolly, bustling, Hustle-ing season.