Promised Land (2012 film)

Promised Land
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gus Van Sant
Screenplay by	John Krasinski Matt Damon
Story by	Dave Eggers
Produced by	Chris Moore Matt Damon John Krasinski
Starring	Matt Damon John Krasinski Frances McDormand Rosemarie DeWitt Hal Holbrook
Cinematography	Linus Sandgren
Edited by	Billy Rich
Music by	Danny Elfman
Production companies	Participant Media Image Nation Abu Dhabi Pearl Street Films Sunday Night Productions
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	December 4, 2012 (2012-12-04) (New York City) December 28, 2012 (2012-12-28) (United States)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million[1][2]
Box office	$12.3 million[2]

Promised Land is a 2012 American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt and Hal Holbrook. The screenplay by Damon and Krasinski is based on a story by Dave Eggers. Promised Land follows two petroleum landmen who visit a rural Pennsylvania town in an attempt to buy drilling rights from the local residents.

Damon also produced the film with Krasinski and Chris Moore, and was originally attached to direct, but was replaced by Van Sant. Filming took place mainly in Pittsburgh from early to mid-2012. During filming and afterward, the film's highlighting of the resource extraction process hydraulic fracturing, known as "fracking," emerged as a topic of debate.

The film had a limited release in the United States on December 28, 2012 and followed with a nationwide expansion on January 4, 2013. The film had its international premiere and received Special Mention Award at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. It received mixed reviews from critics, although the National Board of Review named it one of the top ten films of 2012, and was a box office bomb, grossing just $8 million against a $15 million budget.