Robert Redford‘s The Company You Keep will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival—which doesn’t begin until August 29th—but Sony Pictures Classics isn’t wasting any time, and have snatched up the U.S. distribution rights to the film.  In addition to directing, Redford also stars in the film as a civil rights lawyer who must go on the run when he’s outed by a young reporter (Shia LaBeouf) as being a former 1970s Weather Underground militant.  I’m a little surprised at SPC’s eagerness to pick up the movie considering Redford hasn’t directed a good film since 1994′s Quiz Show, but maybe the execs like what they’ve seen.  With a stellar ensemble cast that also includes Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Brit Marling, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, and Susan Sarandon, the movie shouldn’t be a difficult sell to audiences.

Hit the jump for the press release.  The Company You Keep will also play at the Toronto International Film Festival.  There’s no word on a general release date, but it may hit theaters before the end of the year if Sony Pictures Classics thinks it could be an awards contender.

Director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) has just wrapped principal photography on his next feature, All Is Lost.  To celebrate, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have released the first image of Robert Redford, who stars in “a solo performance of one man lost at sea and his battle against the elements to stay alive.”  Actually, I’ll have to take their word for it.  Redford’s beautiful face is obscured in a severe battle with those elements.

Redford is the only credited actor, which automatically qualifies All Is Lost as one to watch—at the very least as an intriguing formal exercise anchored by one of the greats.  Hit the jump for the full image and a press release with all the details on the production.

Continuing our assault of new movie images from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, in this grouping we’ve got the new films from Joe Wright, Ben Affleck, Robert Redford and Jin-ho Hur.

• Anna Karenina (directed by Joe Wright) Stars Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
• Argo (directed by Ben Affleck) stars Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Kyle Chandler.
• The Company You Keep (directed by Robert Redford) stars Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Chris Cooper and Nick Nolte.
• Dangerous Liaisons (directed by Jin-ho Hur) stars Cecilia Cheung, Dong-gun Jang and Zhang Ziyi.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.

We’ve got an exclusive first look at Robert Redford’s latest directorial effort, The Company You Keep, to share with our readers.  In addition to directing, Redford also stars in the film as a civil rights lawyer who must go on the run when he’s outed by a young reporter (Shia LaBeouf) as being a former 1970s Weather Underground militant.  Based on the novel by Neal Gordon, the pic boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Brit Marling, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, and Susan Sarandon.

Hit the jump to check out the first three images from the film.  The Voltage Pictures/Wildwood Enterprises production is produced by Redford, Nicolas Chartier, and Bill Holderman, with Craig J. Flores and Shawn Williamson executive producing.  The film is based on the novel by Neil Gordon and the screenplay is by Lem Dobbs.  An official release date has yet to be announced, but The Company You Keep is expected to hit theaters sometime in spring 2013.

Robert Redford and Diane Keaton are looking to team up for a holiday family comedy called The Most Wonderful Time. Deadline reports that Redford and Keaton are circling the project, which “focuses on the chaos of a family around Christmastime, featuring storylines with multiple characters that intersect.” The script was written by Steven Rogers (P.S. I Love You, Kate & Leopold) and Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) is onboard to direct. Rogers describes the film as “an Amelie-esque story about people who live for the future or hang onto the past, which prevents them from living in the moment, and not appreciating what is right in front of them.”

I’m a fan of holiday family comedies when they’re done right (Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Home Alone), but this project gives me pause. The prospect of Redford and Keaton teaming up is intriguing, but Nelson and Rogers’s filmography doesn’t inspire a lot of hope that The Most Wonderful Time will rise above your average holiday comedy fare. Redford’s latest directorial effort is the star-studded adaptation of The Company You Keep, and he’s also set to star in Margin Call director J.C. Chandor‘s film All Is Lost. Keaton has two films coming out this year, the drama Darling Companion and the comedy The Wedding.

How’s this for a success story: after making his feature directorial debut with the low-budget financial crisis drama Margin Call, director J.C. Chandor is set to helm a man vs. nature drama as his follow-up and legendary actor-director Robert Redford is in talks to star. Deadline reports that Chandor will next direct All Is Lost, a drama that mainly focuses on a single character and takes place on the water. The film is described as a “one man show” in which the lead braves the elements in order to survive. Chandor premiered Margin Call this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, and the writer-director was apparently so taken with the festival’s founder Redford that he wrote All Is Lost just for him.

I’ve yet to see Margin Call but I’m intrigued by this success story. It’ll be interesting to see how Chandor sets the film apart from the similarly plotted Cast Away. They’ve apparently scouted Baja Film Studios in Mexico as a possible filming location. James Cameron and Michael Bay have both previously used the studio for Titanic and Pearl Harbor, respectively, obviously (though one wonders what James Cameron’s Pearl Harbor and Michael Bay’s Titanic would have looked like), and it’s a prime location for extended water shoots. Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door will produce and they hope to start filming by next May.

Robert Redford has assembled quite the cast for his next directorial effort, and he’s just added two more terrific thesps to the roster: Stanley Tucci and Chris Cooper. The Company You Keep. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Neal Gordon, and centers on a former Weather Underground militant who goes on the run after an ambitious young journalist exposes his true identity. Redford will play the militant, while Shia LaBeouf is set as the young reporter.

Screen Daily (via The Playlist) reports that Tucci will play LaBeouf’s editor, while Cooper will take on the role of Redford’s brother who is forced to take his niece in when Redford’s character goes into hiding. In addition to Redford and LaBeouf, the cast now includes Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Brit Marling, Julie Christie and Richard Jenkins. Filming is set to begin soon in Vancouver. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of Gordon’s novel.

Robert Redford continues to fill out the cast for his next directorial project, as Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie and Richard Jenkins are the latest to join The Company You Keep. Redford will direct and star in the film that also features Shia LaBeouf, and recent additions Nick Nolte and Brit Marling. Based on the novel of the same name by Neal Gordon, the story centers on a wanted former Weather Underground militant (Redford) who goes on the run after an ambitious young reporter (LaBeouf) exposes his true identity.

Deadline reports that Sarandon and Christie play ex-Weather Underground members, while Jenkins will play a college professor who is a link to other members in hiding. While the cast is pretty great, I’m hoping Redford tries a decidedly less heavy-handed approach than his last directorial projects. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the novel.

We have a couple quick casting stories to report this morning.  First up, rising star Brit Marling (Another Earth) has chosen between Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep and the Tom Cruise action flick One Shot and cast her lot with the former.  Variety reports that Marling will co-star with Redford and Shia LaBeouf in the flick which centers on a former Weather Underground militant (Redford) who goes on the run when his identity is revealed by an ambitious reporter (LaBeouf).  Nick Nolte will also star in the flick but there’s no word on what role he or Marling will play.  Marling is also committed to reunite with her Sound of My Voice director Zal Batmanglij for the thriller The East.

In other casting news, Matt Dillon will join Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s Imogene.  Wiig plays a playwright who fakes suicide in order to win back her ex but ends up in the custody of her Jersey Shore-esque mother (Bening).  Deadline reports that Dillon will play Bening’s love interest and “he claims to be in the CIA, but his behavior suggests he just might be crazy.”

Shia LaBeouf will star opposite Robert Redford in the political drama The Company You Keep.  Redford will direct from a script by Lem Dobbs (The Limey) based on the novel by Neil Gordon.  Per Variety, “Redford will play a former Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years who must go on the run when a young, ambitious reporter exposes his true identity. LaBeouf will play the budding journalist who’s determined to make a name for himself.”  Since the film revolves around an obvious political subtext, I expect Redford will be as clumsily condescending and pedantic as he was with Lions for Lambs and The Conspirator.

Earlier this year, LaBeouf was filming on John Hillcoat’s Prohibition-era drama The Wettest County in the World.  He’s also been linked to the Vietnam War drama Pinkville, the historical comedy/drama  College Republicans, and adaptations of Joe Hill’s Horns and John Grisham’s The Associate.

Earlier today, Legendary Pictures made the officially announced development on a Jackie Robinson biopic, a project that was first reported in early April.  There is an apparent discrepancy between the initial report, which suggested Robert Redford will star as Branch Rickey, and the press release which failed to mention Redford’s name at all.  24 Frames, the source of the Redford-centric news, asked around to see if something changed since the story was sent to print.  A rep from Redford’s camp declined to comment; a Legendary spokeswoman stated, simply, there is “no casting announcement at this time.”  The outlet believes Redford is still attached, and the news will surface in a more official capacity at a later date.

In consolation, 24 Frames offers information on Redford’s next project, an adaptation of the Bill Bryson book A Walk in the Woods.  Redford first announced that he would produce and star as the fictional Bryson in A Walk in the Woods in 2005.  At the time, he longed for a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid reunion with Paul Newman before he died in 2008.  Newman is the very definition of irreplaceable, but as far as replacements go, you can’t do much better than Nick Nolte.  Nolte is now attached to play Bryson’s friend Stephen as the two out-of-shape men venture to walk the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail.  Christopher Columbus and Barry Levinson have each been mentioned as possible directors in the past, but it’s not specified if either might return to the project.  Read the official book synopsis after the break.

Robert Redford is an activist and that’s all well and good, but he’s awful at balancing his political viewpoints with storytelling.  His previous film, Lions for Lambs, was a pedantic, simpleminded bore.  With his latest film, The Conspirator, Redford at least has the courtesy to provide a story, but it may as well be prefaced with “Hi, I’m Robert Redford.  I’m going to give you an allegory for how we treat military detainees.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to my other job as worn leather.”  Despite solid performances and the promise of a complex narrative, Redford undermines his message of “Justice for All” by making the criminal a victim.

You know who apparently doesn’t get enough credit in Jackie Robinson’s story about breaking the color barrier in baseball?  White guy Branch Rickey.  Because it’s not simply enough to give credit to an African-American who risked his life to play the great American pastime, Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale) will write and direct a biopic about Rickey, an executive who made the brave decision to sign Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945.  24 Frames reports that Robert Redford who starred in the 1984 baseball drama The Natural, will play Rickey in a role I’m fairly certain will be preachy and simplistic.

Hit the jump for more on Redford’s participation and why this project makes me cringe.

Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute and Europe’s AEG Entertainment group have teamed up to bring the Sundance Film Festival to London’s O2 district next year.   The Sundance Film Festival, America’s largest and most successful indie film expo, will head across the pond from April 26-29, three months after the festival’s annual run in Park City, Utah.

Redford says of the move, “It is our mutual goal to bring to the U.K., the very best in current American independent cinema, to introduce the artists responsible for it, and in essence help build a picture of our country that is broadly reflective of the diversity of voices not always seen in our cultural exports.”

For more info on Sundance: London, hit the jump.

Focus Features recently moved One Day up to July 8, which I quickly marked on my calendar.  As directed by Lone Scherfig (An Education), Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess are sure to charm in this high-concept romance: two friends who meet on the night of their college graduation and proceed to meet exactly once each year on July 15 for the next two decades.  It sounds very Blue Valentine, and this washed-out One Day poster does not seem concerned with such comparison.

The Conspirator perhaps boasts an even greater pedigree: Robert Redford directs Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, and Kevin Kline in the tale of Mary Surratt, the woman who was charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  View the first posters for both One Day and The Conspirator after the jump.