The Oscars aren’t exactly the first thing on Hollywood’s mind at the moment, and yet, the campaigns must continue because in about two months the nominations will be unveiled. And upstart distributor Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is hoping to edge into the race with “Hostiles.”
Directed by Scott Cooper (“Black Mass,” “Crazy Heart“) and led by Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike, the story is set in 1892, and follows an Army captain who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief through dangerous territory. It probably doesn’t need to mentioned that it’s going to be an intense journey. Here’s the official synopsis:
Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary Army Captain (Christian Bale), who after stern resistance, reluctantly agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief (Wes Studi) and his family back to tribal lands. Making the harrowing and perilous journey from Fort Berringer, an isolated Army outpost in New Mexico, to the grasslands of Montana, the former rivals encounter a young widow (Rosamund Pike), whose family was murdered on the plains. Together, they must join forces to overcome the punishing landscape, hostile Comanche and vicious outliers that they encounter along the way.
Co-starring Wes Studi, Adam Beach, Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, and Q’orianka Kilcher, with cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi (“Spotlight,” “Out Of The Furnace”) and a score by Max Richter (“The Leftovers,” “Waltz With Bashir“), “Hostiles” opens on December 22nd in Los Angeles and New York, and goes wide on January 19th. [Deadline]