It's almost like they want it to qualify for award season.

Despite being one of the most anticipated films of the year, “Silence” didn’t have an official release date until this morning. It’s now been confirmed that Martin Scorsese’s period drama will go into limited release on December 23, just in time to qualify for award season, before expanding in January. The celebrated filmmaker’s adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s novel of the same name concerns two Jesuit priests in the 1670s who travel from Portugal to Japan, where their proselytizing isn’t well received.

READ MORE: Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ Aiming For November Release

Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson star in the movie, which some had speculated might not be seen until next year’s edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Budgeted at $51 million and running a full 195 minutes, “Silence” is Scorsese’s first film since 2013’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

READ MORE: Everyone, Including Martin Scorsese, Worked For Scale To Get ‘Silence’ Made; Film Will Be Released By End Of 2016

“Silence” was first published in 1966 and adapted for film by Masahiro Shinoda in 1971. Tadanobu Asano (who replaced Ken Watanabe), Ciarán Hinds, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yōsuke Kubozuka and Issey Ogata round out the cast.

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