It happens often. Director-actor Clint Eastwood drops a last-minute movie into theatres, and the Oscar® race drastically changes. The Academy loves Eastwood’s method of storytelling, so movies like AMERICAN SNIPER (2014), LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006) and MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004) arrive late in the calendar year, and then contend for the Oscars.

Even when he doesn’t make it into the awards conversation, Clint Eastwood always flirts with the possibility of Oscar success with late-arriving movies like THE MULE (2018), J. EDGAR (2011) and GRAN TORINO (2008). Eastwood will try to capture Oscar’s eye — and entertain an audience — later this season with RICHARD JEWELL. But will it make Oscar waves? Tickets for RICHARD JEWELL are now on sale, so grab them, and then keep reading.

Here’s why the film has a chance. The story is based on true and relatively recent events, meaning it falls into a category genre for Eastwood where he has delivered memorable features such as SULLY, INVICTUS and THE 15:17 TO PARIS. The director enjoys finding drama in ripped-from-the-headlines narratives, and RICHARD JEWELL has the potential to tap into that same vein.

Eastwood’s new movie takes audiences back to 1996, when security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) saved lives by warning people about an explosive device in the Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Initially, Jewell was hailed as a hero, an everyman who risked his life to save others. Eventually, though, the media needed someone to blame for the device, and when Jewell became one of many suspects in the case, the news vilified this innocent man.

Ideal material for Eastwood to explore. And the director has surrounded his lead, Paul Walter Hauser, with a strong stable of supporting players. Kathy Bates is a standout in the trailer as Richard’s supportive mother, Bobi. Meanwhile, RICHARD JEWELL rounds out with performances from Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm.

This project once was in the hands of Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio, who flirted with the idea after they collaborated with Martin Scorsese on THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. It eventually made its way to Clint Eastwood, and he quietly prepped it so it could be a 2019 Oscar contender.

Tickets for RICHARD JEWELL are on sale now, so grab your seats at your local AMCC theatre and get ready to see the drama unfold when the movie opens everywhere on December 13.