It was the first and arguably the only great drama of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (sorry, Blue Valentine!), and at last, Australia's instant-classic crime drama Animal Kingdom is coming to U.S. theaters courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Writer-director David Michôd's feature debut won last month's Grand Jury Prize in Sundance's World Dramatic Competition; a release date was not announced, but late summer-early fall seems to be the likeliest window.
Because it always comes down to this, yes, Kingdom easily has enough chops (if maybe not enough Stateside stars beyond Guy Pearce) to launch an Oscar run around that time. Michôd's script about a fragmenting Melbourne crime family could at least make a legitimate go at Best Original Screenplay, and Aussie veteran Jacki Weaver's wicked matriarch might be an early probable as Supporting Actress material. And who knows what can happen with 10 slots for Best Picture? An Education didn't win jack in competition last year at Sundance, and look where Sony Classics took that one.
Anyway. This is exciting! Get ready to never see or hear Air Supply the same way again.