Tidbits: Lincoln Revealed As AFI Fest’s Closing Film As Stoker Footage Hits And More

When the rather gorgeous trailer arrived last week, the film world wondered not only just how great Steven Spielberg’s latest effort, the long-awaited Lincoln, would be, but why it was admittedly missing from the entirety of the fall film festival slate. Well, that was a tad premature.

The AFI Film Festival has revealed that the film will play as the festival’s closing night picture, debuting just eight days prior to its November 16 release, November 8. The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the iconic president, and if anything appeared true based on the trailer, it’s that it’s going to be a gorgeous look into a specific time in the legendary presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Day-Lewis looks great as the titular character, and while many find the schmaltz to be rampant in the trailer, that is far from a bad thing in this writer’s eyes.

Anywho, we’ll know just how great the film will be in just shy of two months.

In other news, Entertainment Tonight has debuted (via The Film Stage) a handful of footage from the upcoming Park Chan-Wook film, Stoker. The film will find a trailer released in anticipation of its March 1 release come next week, but the brief bits of footage shown here prove that the cast, led by Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska, look great here, with the entire aesthetic being very much in keeping with Chan-Wook’s previous works. It looks moody, atmospheric and as bleak as all hell, so hopefully this is more than indicative of what’s to come.

Finally, two films have found new release dates. In one of the bigger shifts, WB has decided to toss director Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby onto May 10, 2013. The film was originally set for a Christmas 2012 release date, something that many found to be perfect for the glitzy and star studded novel adaptation, but was one of a literal handful of films slated for the crowded holiday season. However, films that are getting a 2012 release are still being revealed. Focus Features is bowing the Sacha Gervasi-helmed Hitchcock on November 23, and the film just got a brand new, kick-ass poster as well. The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johansson (among a treasure trove of others), making this easily one of the fall season’s most interesting projects. Oscar hope abounds here as the cast is killer and the premise is just rife with intrigue. Check out the poster below.