Variety reports that Clint Eastwood’s The Mule will be released at Christmas, putting Eastwood in contention for the first time since 2012’s Trouble with Curve. The film will open on December 14, and will also star Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest and Michael Pena.
Variety says the film is “not expected to be a major Oscar contender,” and by that, I presume they mean two things. The first is that WB doesn’t want any competition for A Star is Born, which they have on track for awards, and the second is that Clint Eastwood himself does not really like the Oscar circus, or so I’ve gathered over the years. He prefers to just show the movie to people and have them see it rather than run it through the filter of critics and bloggers.
The Mule is about a man in his 80s who has lost everything and takes a job as a drug courier for a Mexican drug cartel. Variety says he’s in his 80s, but IMDb says, “A 90-year-old horticulturist and WWII veteran is caught transporting $3 million worth of cocaine through Michigan for a Mexican drug cartel.”
And Wikipedia says:
The film is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran in his 80s who became a drug dealer and courier for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Though it is listed as an original screenplay, Wikipedia cites this article as the source and says it is an adapted screenplay based on this story, The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule,
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