Hal Holbrook Joins Gus Van Sant's 'Promised Land' With Matt Damon; Plot Details Emerge

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by Kevin Jagernauth
March 29, 2012 6:11 PM
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While Hal Holbrook hasn't lacked for work in his career on both the big and small screen reaching back to the '60s, his late-stage jobs have earned him the most notice. He nabbed an Academy Award nomination in 2007 for "Into The Wild" and since then, did an arc on "Sons Of Anarchy," led the critically acclaimed but somewhat overlooked "That Evening Sun" and recently wrapped "Lincoln" with Steven Spielberg. Now he's going to spend his spring with another acclaimed director, Gus Van Sant, and his casting has also led to some plot details finally emerging.

Holbrook has come on board "Promised Land," the project from writers and stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski, that also features Rosemarie DeWitt and Frances McDormand. Initially birthed from an idea by Dave Eggers, Variety reveals that the story will center on two rival executives, with Damon arriving in a small town and having his life turned upside down (we knew that part already). McDormand will play Damon's sales partner, who prefers to play by the books and not bend any rules, while DeWitt is a school teacher who comes between the two execs. Meanwhile, Holbrook plays an engineer who is resisting a corporate takeover led by Damon's character. So a picture is beginning to emerge on the film that has been described as Frank Capra-esque.