One film I've had my eye on in the upcoming season is Stephen Frears' “The Program” (formerly “Icon”). It's the story of journalist David Walsh, chief sports writer of the Sunday Times, who was hot on the trail of cyclist Lance Armstrong's fall from grace amid his performance-enhancing drugs scandal. A sharp trailer gives us our first glance at what we're dealing with here.

Chris O'Dowd is playing Walsh opposite Ben Foster as Armstrong. The latter appears uncanny in his depiction, really getting under the skin of a character who will do anything to succeed, will cut corners to achieve a result, will sell himself out if it means gaining any sort of edge in the marketplace of professional athleticism. Those are themes that stretch beyond that world, of course…

There is no domestic distributor on the Working Title production yet, which is surprising. I imagine it will hit the fall festival circuit and maybe a buyer will be made public prior to that. Studio Canal is distributing the film overseas, and that's the source of the new trailer.

The last time Frears was in the derby it was Best Picture nominee “Philomena” two years ago. He of course saw great success with “The Queen,” “The Grifters” and “Dangerous Liaisons” as well. Is this one a potential player? If so, are there any studios out there looking for a cause (assuming no non-publicized acquisition is in the works)?

Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMTPvXtvkZU]