Four years ago, Ang Lee took critics and the box office by storm with one of his most ambitious projects yet, bringing Yann Martel’s Life of Pi to the big screen. The film earned him his second Oscar win and another nomination to boot. And this year, Sony has planted Lee’s flag in the heart of awards season once more, setting the Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk UK release date for November.
The film will be one of the first major Oscar contenders to hit cinemas on our shores. By then, America will have been treated to several big players, including The Birth of a Nation, The Light Between Oceans, and The Girl on the Train. Of those, only The Girl on the Train will have hit our shores by November. And Sony’s decision to set the Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk UK release date for the same day as its American release means we won’t be kept waiting, as we often are for Oscar and BAFTA candidates.
Sony has launched the first teaser trailer and poster over on iTunes, whetting our appetites for the potential awards season heavyweight.
Two-time Academy Award® winner Ang Lee brings his extraordinary vision to Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, based on the widely-acclaimed, bestselling novel. The film is told from the point of view of 19-year-old private Billy Lynn (newcomer Joe Alwyn) who, along with his fellow soldiers in Bravo Squad, becomes a hero after a harrowing Iraq battle and is brought home temporarily for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of the Thanksgiving Day football game, the film reveals what really happened to the squad – contrasting the realities of the war with America’s perceptions.
Newcomer Joe Alwyn stars as the titular Billy Lynn. He shares the screen with Kristen Stewart, Chris Rock, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Makenzie Leigh, Deirdre Lovejoy, Beau Knapp, and Ben Platt.
Lee directs from a script penned by Jean-Christophe Castelli. He makes his feature debut as a writer, adapting the novel by Ben Fountain.
[UPDATE:]
Sony had originally set the Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk UK release date for November, a week before Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Possibly getting a bit jumpy at the prospect of a quiet weekend before Harry Potter, Sony has now opted to move back Ang Lee’s film to the first weekend of January, where it will face off against eOne’s A Monster Calls and Fox’s videogame adaptation, Assassin’s Creed.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk UK release date is set for January 6th. It hits cinemas in the US on November 11th.
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