Christian Bale Heads To Oscar Season With ‘Hostiles’

The blandly named Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures (that’s like calling a sports team Equipment Management Baseball Collective) are trying to make big waves, and quickly, among Hollywood’s establishment. Honcho Bryon Allen has been throwing money around, picking up Keanu Reeves vehicle “Replicas” and Kennedy family drama “Chappaquiddick” during the Toronto International Film Festival, when all the other buyers were keeping their wallets closed. And this summer, ESMP (even the acronym kinda sucks) had a surprise hit with the Mandy Moore shark movie, “47 Meters Down.” Now, the fledgling shingle has landed another title.

ESMP has snapped Scott Cooper‘s “Hostiles” with plans to release it in time this year’s Oscars race. Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Adam Beach, Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, and Q’orianka Kilcher star in the film, is set in 1892, which follows an Army captain who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief through dangerous territory. Reviews out of Telluride and TIFF were mostly positive, though quite ecstatic, and by most accounts the western is a slow burn. Our own Gregory Ellwood found the film problematic, but called the performances by Bale and Pike “superb,” so that’s probably where the Oscar play for this picture lies.

There’s no exact release date, but “Hostiles” will have a limited run in December, with a $15 million campaign behind it. So, Oscar prognosticators, start adjusting your charts accordingly. [Deadline]