Alexander Payne’s Comedy ‘The Holdovers’ Sets Thanksgiving Release
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Alexander Payne’s comedy “The Holdovers” is landing in theaters in time for Thanksgiving. Focus Features will begin rolling out the film on Nov. 10 in select markets before expanding nationwide on Wednesday, Nov. 22, ahead of Turkey Day. It’ll play in theaters alongside Disney’s animated adventure “Wish,” which debuts on the same day, as well as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and Universal’s “Trolls 3,” which open the week prior. “The Holdovers” reunites Payne with Paul Giamatti for the first time since their 2004 Oscar-winning film “Sideways.” In the upcoming movie, Giamatti plays a curmudgeonly instructor at an elite New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the students with nowhere to go. He eventually forms an unlikely bond with a damaged, brainy troublemaker (played by newcomer Dominic Sessa) and the head cook (portrayed by Da’Vine Joy Randolph).