With the announcement that Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman and the success of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, it has been a more exciting year for Jon Stewart’s ex-correspondents than it has for the Daily Show host. However, that could all change this fall, when Stewart’s screenwriting and directorial debut, Rosewater, hits the big screen. After the title screens at the Toronto Film Festival in September, Open Road Films will release the journalistic thriller on November 7, 2014 in select theatres.
Rosewater is based on a true story (and best-selling memoir) by BBC journalist Maziar Bahari. Bahari, played by Gael Garcia Bernal in the film, was a Canadian broadcast journalist living in London who Iranian authorities imprisoned for 118 days in 2009. He arrived in Iran to report about a heated presidential election but was arrested for 11 charges of espionage. The title comes from the nickname Bahari gave the man who imprisoned and interrogated him.
Stewart was one of many American journalists who reporting on Bahari’s imprisonment, as well as his wife’s campaign to free her husband. On The Daily Show, Stewart interviewed Bahari after the journalist was released from prison. While Stewart received good notices (a rarity) as Oscar host in 2006 and 2008, this release date shows that the studio could be setting Rosewater up for awards gold. Perhaps he could be one of the only Oscar hosts to win a prize at the Academy Awards. (That would only ratchet his friendly rivalry with Colbert even more.)
The November 7 release date means that Rosewater will have some stiff dramatic competition through the month, including Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher and The Imitation Game (from Morten Tyldum) all trying for awards attention. Meanwhile, with the exception of The Hurt Locker and Lone Survivor, contemporary political thrillers have a poor record at landing critical and commercial love. However, if TIFF reaction is strong, the festival attention could carry a lot of momentum for Stewart and company into November.
Check out the first photo from Rosewater above and let us know if you’re looking forward to the film.