The Coen Brothers will be taking their newest feature film, Inside Llewyn Davis to the Cannes Film Festival, but they also have big plans for its U.S. release as it’s been announced that it will open in select theaters on December 6th, followed by a wide release on December 20th. If you haven’t noticed, all of this will occur during Oscar season, which will surely help the film’s chances of getting an Academy Award nomination.
Inside Llewyn Davis‘ cast is led by Oscar Isaac, who finally gets the stellar role he deserves, and features Carey Mulligan (who played Isaac’s wife in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive), Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and F. Murray Abraham. The story’s set in the 60s and takes place in New York City, during a time where all popular songs played by New York-based folk musicians seemed to come from everywhere except their hometown. That’s all we know about it so far, though.
Is this an odd movie for the Coens to helm? Well, not exactly. If you know anything about the filmmakers, you know there’s no “odd” genre for them to tackle. They’ve done everything — from comedies (O Brother, Where Art Thou?; Burn After Reading) to thrillers (Blood Simple; No Country for Old Men), a heist film (The Ladykillers), a gangster flick (Miller’s Crossing) and even a Western (True Grit). I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a horror film next.
Whether this movie will turn out to be a typical Coen Brothers instant hit or a disappointing failure (much like Intolerable Cruelty or The Handsucker Proxy), it’s sure to garner Oscar buzz. The writer/directors are no strangers to accolades — they’ve earned 33 Academy Award nominations in their careers, even though they’ve only won 6 times.
Inside Llewyn Davis is being financed by CBS Films, and is based on the book The Mayor of Macdougal Street by Dave van Ronk.