A trailer popping in mid-July for Jean-Marc Vallee‘s Wild (Fox Searchlight, 12.5) tells me it may turn up at Venice/Telluride/Toronto. Based on Cheryl Strayed‘s “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” and a screenplay adaptation by Nick Hornby, you can tell it’s a stirring, disciplined, well-mounted thing. Thoughtful, internal. A woman in a difficult transition struggling against the elements and coming out of that with…something new. Certainly with stronger leg muscles. Spiritual cross-currents, layered, brilliant editing, etc. The Venice/Telluride/Toronto strategy, if indeed Fox Searchlight is playing that card, will naturally mean the launch of a Best Actress campaign for Reese Witherspoon. But first things first.
