Left pane: Joel and Ethan Coen; Top right: Brad Pitt in a still from Burn After Reading; Bottom right: George Clooney on set.

Evening Coen fans! So as if them Coen’s haven’t been titillating the press enough recently with their smash hit film No Country for Old Men, some lavish critic lovin’ and no less than four Oscars, yesterday they announced the release date of their new film Burn After Reading.

As most of you will know news about the production has been circulating for a while, but Focus Features officially made the announcement that they will be releasing the Coen’s “dark espionage comedy” on September 12th in North America. When it will come to these shores has not, as yet, been revealed however we know it will premier at Cannes Film Festival on May 14th and according to IMDB (known for its unquestionably reliable information ahem) Finland will be graced with the film on the 21st of November. So if you’re looking for a Finger Lickin’ prediction, I’d say the UK will see the film around the second week of October… but don’t quote me on that.

Burn After Reading boasts an impressive cast including, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, and Joel Coen’s wife, Frances McDormand who also played the adorable Marge Gunderson in Coen classic Fargo. As is often the case, the script is an original piece written by both the brothers and centres around a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent that ends up in the hands of two reprobate gym employees who attempt to sell it. The flick is currently in post-production and is reported to contain the Coen’s usual mix of dark drama and comedy. Other stuff in the Coen’s pre-production pipeline includes: Suburbicon due in 2009, written by the lads, and directed by George Clooney; a remake of 1966 crime comedy Gambit; and back-burner project, the 1920s periodpiece Hail Caesar. So, from that little collection, it looks like the prolific duo are showing no signs of slowing down.

That’s it from me… take it easy,

K