Three previously announced Focus Features movies for 2012 release have been assigned confirmed domestic opening dates for the first half of the year. The company made the announcement today.
Being Flynn is the new dramatic feature from writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy). Adapted from Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir “Another Bullst Night in Suck City,” the movie explores bonds both unbreakable and fragile between parent and child. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) portrays Nick Flynn, a young writer seeking to define himself. He misses his late mother, Jody (Julianne Moore), and her loving nature. But his father, Jonathan, is not even a memory, as Nick has not seen the man in 18 years. Jonathan Flynn (Robert De Niro) has long defined himself as a great writer, “a master storyteller.” Suddenly facing eviction from his apartment, Jonathan impulsively reaches out to Nick and the two come face-to-face. Being Flynn will open in select cities on Friday, March 2nd.
Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star in the comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Lorene Scafaria (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist). Set in a too-near future, the movie explores what people will do when humanity’s last days are at hand. As the respective journeys of Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightley) converge, the two spark to each other and their outlooks if not the world’s brighten. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World will open in theaters nationally on Friday, April 20th.
Moonrise Kingdom is the new feature from Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore). Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, the film follows a young boy and girl (newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) falling in love. When they are moved to run away together, various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down which might not be such a bad thing. Bruce Willis plays the town sheriff; Edward Norton is cast as a camp leader; and Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl’s parents. Also in the cast are Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman. The original screenplay is by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited). Moonrise Kingdom will open in select cities on Friday, May 25th.
In addition to the three newly dated films, current and upcoming Focus Features releases include writer/director Dee Rees’ contemporary drama Pariah, which world-premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival; Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s ParaNorman, the new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA, which was previously announced for a 2012 nationwide domestic release on August 17th; the historical tale Hyde Park on Hudson, directed by Roger Michell and starring Bill Murray and Laura Linney; Joe Wright’s epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Tom Stoppard and starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson; and Tomas Alfredson’s thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy.
