Clint Eastwood's THE MULE Will Be Released in December

Clint Eastwood's "The Mule" will be released in time for the holidays, says Variety.

Eastwood stars in and directs the Warner Bros. thriller, to be released December 14th. "The Mule" will be up against Universal's sci-fi/fantasy film "Mortal Engines," Jennifer Lopez-led romantic comedy "Second Act," and Sony's "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse." The commercially appealing film is not expected to be a major Oscar contender.

Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. After being assigned a menacing handler, Stone also attracts attention from DEA agent Colin Bates. The cast also includes Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, and Michael Pena. The movie is Eastwood's first acting role since "Trouble With the Curve" in 2012.

Warner Bros. film chief Toby Emmerich told Variety last month that he deferred to Eastwood about when the film would be released.

"We're waiting for Clint to show us the movie, and the way that's worked for 25 years is whenever and wherever Clint says," said Emmerich.

Read the original story on Variety.