Given that his last film Milk earned both a Best Picture nomination and a Best Actor win for star Sean Penn, it was something of a surprise to see Gus van Sant's next effort Restless slated for a January 28 release date. January is the traditional home of total garbage that would never make any money otherwise, and indeed, ,Restless's main competition at the box office that weekend was going to be Jason Statham's latest, a remake The Mechanic. Was Sony just convinced that Restless, a quirky romance starring up-and-comer Mia Wasikowska, wouldn't make any money? Or was there some weird calculus going on there we just couldn't understand?
Apparently Sony didn't quite know what they were doing with that date anyway, and Variety now reports that they've pulled the film from the January 28 date to an unspecified later release, possibly during the fall for an awards campaign. Of course, that's all just speculation right now, and van Sant is as likely to turn in something with awards potential like Good Will Hunting as bring us something totally out there, like Elephant or Gerry. Based on the recently released trailer, which you can watch below, Restless looks a lot less prestige ready than the likes of Milk, but with a rising star like Wasikowska on board, anything is probably possible.
