Update: “The Peter Berg film tested through the roof at both Archlight and before a blue-collar audience.” — Filmmaker friend who knows and hears stuff.

Earlier: I’m feeling a natural sense of caution and concern about Peter Berg‘s Lone Survivor, which Universal has decided to open on 12.27 in order to exploit possible award-season huzzahs. Pic is basically about a Zero Dark Thirty-type mission gone wrong — about a real-life Seal Team assassination attempt on 6.28.05 that didn’t pan out and in fact resulted in everyone on the squad getting wasted except one. Pic stars Mark Wahlberg with Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster costarring. Problem #1, for me, is that Berg directed Battleship — one of the all-time worst spectacle-monster films ever made. Problem #2 is Kitsch, who has proved that he’s not that adept at conveying intelligent thought + he’s suffered through the triple-whammy of John Carter, Battleship and Savages. I hope he gets through this. I don’t hate the guy or anything. We all go through bad patches.