The Tender Bar: Ben Affleck and Tye Sheridan toast in George Clooney’s latest

In a new image for the George Clooney-directed drama The Tender Bar, Ben Affleck and Tye Sheridan share a drink as well as an intense conversation. Written by Academy Award winner William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven), The Tender Bar tells the story of J.R. (Tye Sheridan), a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother (Lily Rabe) struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father (Christopher Lloyd) — J.R. begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams — with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by J.R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar opens its doors in theaters nationwide on December 22, 2021, and globally on Amazon Prime Video on January 7, 2022.

The Tender Bar is Clooney’s latest directorial effort after helming The Midnight Sky for Netflix. In the post-apocalyptic tale, a lonely scientist in the Arctic named Augustine (Clooney) races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. Clooney is also set to helm an episode of the untitled Confessions of a Dangerous Mind project, starring Justin Timberlake.

Seeing as The Tender Bar is already in pre-production, a trailer is likely to drop sooner rather than later. We’ll be sure to let you know when the bar opens up and is serving customers.