DreamWorks announced this morning that Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, will hit limited theaters on November 9 before expanding nationwide the following weekend on November 16. The film will therefore open opposite the latest James Bond adventure Skyfall and Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina, the latter of which is also releasing in limited theaters, though I expect it will follow a more staggered release schedule.
The November 16 date matches with Summit’s plan to release The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as well as the first weekend Sony Classics will roll out the Cannes standout, Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone in limited release.
Lincoln was one of the few remaining major Oscar contenders without a release date and on top of that, the release will fall only four days after Election Day as Barack Obama battles Mitt Romney, making for very easy marketing opportunities.
In other recent release date news, Oscilloscope Laboratories recently set a limited, October 5 date for Andrea Arnold‘s Wuthering Heights and Fox Searchlight secured a March 1, 2013 release date for Chan-wook Park‘s Stoker starring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weaver, Lucas Till, Alden Ehrenreich and Dermot Mulroney.
Having already been rated by the MPAA I was hoping Stoker might hit the Toronto Film Festival, but with a March date it will likely find its way to Sundance 2013 before arriving in theaters.
Speaking of festival opportunities, the November date for Lincoln may be a bit too late to play in Toronto in September, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it found a place at the New York Film Festival in October.
