Tradecraft: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Gets a U.S. Release Date

There may not be a Bond movie coming out this fall (doesn't that throw off your internal clock? My body knows instinctually that we're due for one!), but that doesn't mean that spy fans won't have anything to look forward to on what would have probably been its release date.  Variety reports that Universal will release Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the United States through its Focus Features specialty division on November 18, nabbing the traditional 007 weekend for John le Carré's anti-Bond hero, George Smiley.  That date comes at the heart of what's known as "Awards Season," when studios schedule movies they believe likely to earn Oscar nominations for maximum exposure to Academy voters with short memories.  It's also what the trade calls a "shrewd counterprogramming move," as that date puts the spy film up against Summit's surefire blockbuster freight train The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1.  I'm guessing there won't be too much crossover appeal between the two films, so they should be able to coexist peacefully.  The move also puts Tinker, Tailor almost exactly one month before Paramount's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the 2012 spy movie I'm looking forward to second most.  It should be a good holiday season for spy fans!  As previously reported, the UK will get to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy nearly two months earlier. 

Click here to see recently released images from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.