Amazon MGM has set the release of Ron Howard and Imagine Entertainment’s upcoming war drama “Alone at Dawn” starring Anne Hathaway and Adam Driver for a platform release on Christmas Day 2027, with plans to expand to select cities in early January 2027 and nationwide on MLK weekend.
Based on Dan Schilling and Lori Longfritz’s book of the same name, “Alone at Dawn” tells the true story of Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman, who gave his life to save his fellow soldiers in 2002 during the Afghan War. Howard’s film will follow an intelligence officer who set out to prove Chapman’s valor, leading to an investigation that would result in Chapman posthumously receiving the Medal of Honor.
Betty Gilpin will also star in the film, with Howard directing from a screenplay by Michael Russell Gunn. Howard will also produce alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum, as well as Matthew Rhodes, Ron West, Kristy Grisham, William M. Connor, Patrick Newall, and Hideaway Entertainment’s Jonathan Grey. Thruline Entertainment will also produce the film alongside Imagine.
The limited release of “Alone at Dawn” will join a Christmas 2027 slate that includes Disney/Marvel’s “Avengers: Secret Wars,” Warner Bros./New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid’s Secret” and an untitled Warner Bros. film from director Nancy Meyers. The nationwide expansion on MLK weekend will be joined by Paramount’s sequel to “Longlegs,” with Disney and Universal also setting release placeholders for the weekend.
Amazon MGM will be looking to roll back the clock somewhat and repeat the success of past war dramas released during the holiday corridor before the COVID pandemic, such as the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood-directed “American Sniper” in 2014 and the Sam Mendes WWI drama “1917” in 2019.
This fall, the studio has a slate that includes Hathaway in the thriller “Verity,” the Mahershala Ali hitman drama “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” and Peter Farrelly’s Sylvester Stallone biopic “I Play Rocky.”
