In our last batch of Sundance 2012 images for the night, we’ve got the first look at one of my most-anticipated. John Hawkes has been a staple at Sundance, especially the last two years with Winter’s Bone (which he would go on to get an Oscar nomination for) and Martha Marcy May Marlene (which he deserves one for). He has a new film there, titled The Surrogate and also starring Helen Hunt and William H. Macy. Directed by Ben Lewin, the concept is interesting to say the least. Check out the images above and below, along with the synopsis.
Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist with an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he contacts a professional sex surrogate to take him on a journey to manhood.
We also have the first stills from Jonathan Kasdan‘s The First Time. The storyline sounds a like the film one would expect at Sundance, with “two high schoolers meeting at a party” and “over the course of a weekend, things turn magical, romantic, complicated and funny, as they discover what it’s like to fall in love for the first time.” It has got to better than Like Crazy, at the very least. Cast includes Brittany Robertson, Dylan O’Brien, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville and Victoria Justice. Check out the images below.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World‘s Mark Webber is also a busy man at Sundance 2012, acting in two films and directing one. Titled The End of Love, the drama directed by Webber follows “a young father” who “unravels following the loss of the mother of his child.” Check out the first images below for the film starring Webber, Shannyn Sossamon, Michael Cera, Jason Ritter, Amanda Seyfried and Frankie Shaw.
Sundance 2012 kicks off on January 19th. Follow our complete coverage from the fest here.