Fox Searchlight isn’t wasting any time. Earlier this week they purchased the North American rights to Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, and not even a week later, a release date has been solidified:

December 19th 2008

As expected, the film is being released by the end of the year so that the film can qualify for Award consideration. I don’t think I’ve read a review yet that didn’t mention both Mickey Rourke and Academy Award nomination in the same sentence. I wouldn’t be surprised if the film didn’t get a few more nominations as well. From what I understand, part of the decision that went into the acquisition earlier this week, was which studio could position the film for awards consideration.

Note: I’m not sure how wide the initial release is. Fox Searchlight is known for their platform releases. So it is possible that the film might initially open in New York and Los Angeles on this date, before expanding wide in January 2009.