By Scott Feinberg
The Hollywood Reporter
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Fox Searchlight just shook up this year’s awards race by announcing that Hitchcock, which had been looking like a 2013 release, will now open on Nov. 23.
First of all, the facts: Hitchcock is a dramedy about the relationship between kinky master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and his trusted wife, Alma Reville, during the making of his seminal 1960 film Psycho.
The film was adapted by Black Swan co-screenwriter John McLaughlin from film historian/Playboy contributing editor Stephen Rebello‘s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. It marks the feature directorial debut of Sacha Gervasi, who is best known for his 2008 hit doc Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and was produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman‘s Montecito Picture Co., which also handled 2009 best picture Oscar nominee Up in the Air.
It features a large and formidable ensemble: Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren play Alfred and Alma; James D’Arcy, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel portray Psycho stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles, respectively; and Michael Stuhlbarg is super-agent Lew Wasserman. Also popping up are Oscar nominee Toni Collette as Hitchcock’s faithful assistant Peggy Robertson, Danny Huston as Alma’s friend Whitfield Cook, and Ralph Macchio, The Karate Kid himself, as Psycho screenwriter Joe Stefano.