Matt Damon Confronts Fracking in New Film

John Krasinski, Frances McDormand also join 'The Promised Land'
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 7, 2012 2:15 PM CDT
Matt Damon to Star in Film Against Fracking
Actor Matt Damon poses during the photo call for the movie Contagion at the 68th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011.   (AP Photo/Jonathan Short)

Matt Damon fans, rejoice: The heartthrob has agreed to star in an anti-fracking movie called The Promised Land, the Huffington Post reports. Damon and actor John Krasinski, the film's co-writers, will star as rival executives involved in drilling for natural gas in a small town. Gus Van Sant is slated to direct, with Frances McDormand on board and possibly Hal Holbrook, who would play an engineer opposing Damon's corporate takeover of the town.

Fracking has inspired two other films, the documentary Gasland and a pro-fracking movie called FrackNation that's currently underway, reports Politico. “We want to make FrackNation because we want the truth about fracking to be told,” the filmmakers write. "It's likely that PROMISED LAND will increase unfounded concerns about fracking.” Environmentalists are concerned, however, because fracking blasts hazardous chemicals into the ground and has been linked to earthquakes. (For more on Damon's political side, check out his gutsy defense of teachers.)

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