Gus Van Sant has reunited with his "Good Will Hunting" star and screenwriter Matt Damon for a new film that's slated to begin shooting this week in Pennsylvania.

Entitled "Promised Land", the drama will star Damon as a corporate salesman who arrives in a rural town with his business partner (Frances McDormand) to buy up drilling rights from the local residents - only to meet a formidable challenge in the form of a local schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) and a grassroots organizer (John Krasinski).

The "Capra-esque" film, which also stars Rosemarie DeWitt ("Your Sister's Sister", "Rachel Getting Married"), Scoot McNairy ("Monsters", TV's "Bones") and Titus Welliver ("Argo", "Man on a Ledge"), was scripted by Damon and Krasinski (the two are also serving as producers) from a short story by Dave Eggers, who reportedly wrote an earlier draft of the script. Participant Media ("The Help", "Contagion") co-financed the film, and Focus Features holds worldwide distribution rights.

“Matt and I wanted to write a story about American identity," said Krasinski in a statement. "In all of today’s political and economic rhetoric, I feel people often lose sight of the deeper, core principles of what defines us as a country. We knew we needed to find a contemporary issue that would serve as the backdrop to the story but, more importantly, allow us to fully explore this idea.”

"Promised Land" is being eyed for release next winter.

Van Sant's last feature was the 2011 drama "Restless" starring Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper; he also directed the pilot for the Starz drama series "Boss" starring Kelsey Grammer and is currently developing an independent project starring "Twilight" heartthrob Taylor Lautner.

Damon, who of course won an Oscar for writing "Good Will Hunting" with Ben Affleck, last appeared on the big-screen in Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo". He'll next be seen in the sci-fi film "Elysium" from writer/director Neill Blomkamp ("District 9"), which is slated for release on March 1, 2013.

滬江娛樂快訊：焦點影業(yè)公布最新電影計劃，知名導演格斯·范·桑特最新劇情片《承諾之地》（Promised Land）（暫譯）已確定正式開機。馬特·達蒙和約翰·卡拉辛斯基、弗蘭西斯·麥克多蒙德等明星都會加盟出演。

本片由馬特·達蒙和約翰·卡拉辛斯基兩人共同擔任編劇，根據(jù)戴夫·艾格斯的一個故事改編。馬特·達蒙將出演一名天然氣公司的推銷員Steve Butler，與他的同事Sue Thomason（弗蘭西斯·麥克多蒙德飾）前往一個小鎮(zhèn)，希望獲取當?shù)氐馁Y源鉆取權。那個小鎮(zhèn)因為經(jīng)濟危機而變得沒落，也十分需要這個項目獲得復興，一切看起來都非常簡單。意外的是，當?shù)匾粋€德高望重的老師（哈爾·霍爾布魯克飾）以及約翰·卡拉辛斯基的角色卻開始組織抵制這個項目。馬特·達蒙之前曾打算自己擔任導演，不過最終的導演權還是轉(zhuǎn)到了格斯·范·桑特的手中。

焦點影業(yè)Jeb Brody宣稱馬特·達蒙和約翰·卡拉辛斯基編寫的這個劇本是一個弗蘭克·卡普拉式的故事，幽默卻又能打動人心，對當前時代也有非常重要的表現(xiàn)意義。約翰·卡拉辛斯基則希望這個故事能表現(xiàn)當前的美國文化，包括政治和經(jīng)濟，并深入觀眾內(nèi)心。

本片將于本周在賓夕法尼亞州開機，計劃明年冬天上映。?