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Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2012: #20. John Hillcoat’s Wettest County

We’re huge fans of revisionist Westerns and Gangster Films in general, and such a blend in the hands of John Hillcoat and his creative partnership with musical genius Nick Cave (they last gave us gold in 2005’s The Proposition) should make Wettest County one of the year’s earliest must see pics of the year.

Eric Lavallée

Published on January 9, 2012

#20. Wettest County

Director: John Hillcoat
Writer(s): Nick Cave
Producers: Michael Benaroya (Margin Call), Megan Ellison, Red Wagon Prod.’s Lucy Fisher (The Great Gatsby) and Douglas Wick
Distributor: The Weinstein Co.

The Gist: Based on Matt Bondurant’s “The Wettest County in the World,” this is true story of the freewheelin’ Bondurants brothers, bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands. This is the story of the rural hard-men that created the big city gangsters. Brazen and fearless, these young rebel brothers helped build the American Dream in this exuberant tale of what was to become crime’s first major gold rush...(more)

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska

List Worthy Reasons…: We’re huge fans of revisionist Westerns and Gangster Films in general, and such a blend in the hands of John Hillcoat and his creative partnership with musical genius Nick Cave (they last gave us gold in 2005’s The Proposition) should make Wettest County one of the year’s earliest must see pics of the year.

Release Date/Status?: Weinstein Co. have circled an August 31st release date. Opening film at Venice is a distinct possibilty.

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Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).