Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” will come out in time for Christmas.

The Warner Bros. thriller will open on Dec. 14 in wide release. Eastwood stars in the film and directs. “The Mule” will face off against Universal’s pricey sci-fi fantasy “Mortal Engines,” STX’s Jennifer Lopez rom-com “Second Act,” and Sony’s animated adventure “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.” The film is seen as more of a commercial effort. It’s not expected to be a major Oscar contender.

Eastwood stars in “The Mule” 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. In addition to Eastwood, the cast includes Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, and Michael Pena. The movie is Eastwood’s first acting role since 2012’s “Trouble With the Curve.”

In an interview with Variety last month, Warner Bros. film chief Toby Emmerich said 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.

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