In the realm of “news that had the gall to break while I was at a press screening,” Warner Bros. has slotted Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell for December 13. The picture is another one of Eastwood’s lightning-fast projects, as it essentially didn’t exist (years of development notwithstanding) until April of this year. The drama, starring Paul Walter Hauser (BlacKkKlansman) as the security guard who was wrongfully suspected of being the Atlanta Olympic Park bomber in the summer of 1996, was set up at Fox but ended up at Eastwood’s standard WB home after the Fox/Disney merger. The Billy Ray-penned picture will also star Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm.
This move may change the equation for the year’s Oscar season. Presuming that the movie is good, it gives Warner Bros. another egg in their Oscar basket in case Joker turns out to have peaked (in terms of awards and acclaim) at Venice a month ago. They’ve still got the Michael B. Jordan/Brie Larson legal drama Just Mercy (opening in limited release on Christmas) along with the still-unseen The Good Liar, but otherwise their awards hopes are pinned on the Clown Prince of Crime. Moreover, the previous month’s back-and-forth controversies over Joker’s value as an accidental incel recruitment tool will probably do more to hurt its awards chances than its box office.
So, yes, it’s possible that Richard Jewell will play a late-in-the-game spoiler not unlike Million Dollar Baby in 2004. The bat-outta-hell reception for the Hillary Swank/Clint Eastwood/Morgan Freeman boxing drama was a rare case of a late December entry swooping in at the last minute and coming out on top. Credit a lack of a consensus choice and a lack of any preordained contenders that were jaw-dropping good enough or had an appealing enough Oscar narrative to rise to the top. Million Dollar Baby is an exception to the rule, just as Shrek 2 is an exception ($20 million on Wed/Thurs, $108 million over the Fri-Sun weekend) when it comes to Wednesday openers.
So, if Warner Bros. isn’t necessarily expecting Richard Jewell to sweep in and challenge The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Jojo Rabbit for Oscar glory, then what’s the play? Well, I would argue that WB’s choice, which of course was predicated on Eastwood being the fastest filmmaker this side of Tyler Perry and finishing the movie just eight months after the start time, is about box office counter programming. Looking at the December slate, there are a host of big kid-friendly offerings to cap the year. There are a lot fewer adult-skewing biggies. As such, a Clint Eastwood movie aimed at older adults, with a budget that presumably doesn’t require a blockbuster performance, could fill a niche alongside Star Wars and Cats.
Richard Jewell will open on December 13 alongside Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Universal’s Black Christmas remake. Unless you live in a city where A Hidden Life and Uncut Gems will be opening in limited release, the Eastwood flick is it for adult viewing. So, you either see whatever your kids want to see, check out Knives Out again, or sample the Olympic Park bombing drama.
December 20 brings Walt Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Universal’s Cats, Warner Bros.’ (PG-rated) Superintelligence and Lionsgate’s Fox News drama Bombshell. And then Christmas Day sees Sony’s Little Women and Fox’s animated Spies in Disguise. Unless you live in a city where Just Mercy and 1917 will platform on Christmas Day, your adult-friendly options are limited.
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