Clooney's 'Men Who Stare at Goats' Gets Fall Release

I've just received word from Overture that The Men Who Stare at Goats will be released on November 6th. The news comes on the heels of the film's selection for the Venice Film Festival late next month. I honestly had no idea what sort of release window they were looking at for this project. I know it happened relatively quickly from the moment George Clooney became involved about 15 months ago. His Smoke House label produced it, his writing and producing partner Grant Heslov directed it, and filming began soon after the cast came together last fall. Speaking of the cast: Clooney, Spacey, Bridges, McGregor. Not bad. The film is based on the Jon Ronson novel of the same name - to differentiate it from those other books called The Men Who Stare at Goats - and is described in today's press release as a "quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true...astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission." It's the story of soldiers trained to fight using paranormal powers, which sounds pretty whacked out to me, given the circumstances. November 6th, of course, is right in the middle of the awards season, which generally begins in early October. So could Overture be sniffing around for trophies? It's surely a sign of confidence to have it open up in Venice and then go into theatrical release at such a competitive time, and this year seems pretty wide open. In related news, Overture announced that it was moving Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler from May 2009 to October 16th of this year, which also seems like a good sign.