After scheduling issues forced Matt Damon to back out as director of the Capra-esque drama, Promised Land, only to be replaced by his good friend Gus Van Sant, the film appears to be gearing up to begin filming next month. With Damon and John Krasinski writing and starring, the story centers on two rival business execs who arrive in a small town, only to have Damon have his entire life thrown into question. Sounds like the type of simple, homegrown story we don't see much in Hollywood anymore, and now the perfect actor to fit that mold has joined the cast.
Hal Holbrook, who I still think was snubbed for his performance in That Evening Sun, will play an engineer trying to fight off a corporate take over by Damon's character. Having just wrapped Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, and appearing last year in Water for Elephants, Holbrook has been busier and better than any point in his career. Rosemarie DeWitt(Rachel Getting Married) plays a teacher who gets between the two execs, while Frances McDormand is Damon's "by the book" business partner.
It sounds like Damon's character is going to start off as a jerky Wall Street type, only to have some small town values forced down upon him. I can dig it. [Variety]
