By Debbie McGoldrick

Colin Farrell’s film The New World, written and directed by the acclaimed Terence Malik, opens in a few key markets on Christmas Day in the hopes of generating some Oscar consideration. The film “opens wide,” as they say in the industry, on January 13.

There was an interesting report in an issue of The Hollywood Reporter last week about the challenges facing the film’s distributor, New Line Cinema, as far as ensuring the film’s commercial and critical success.

On the plus side, its budget is a reasonable $40 million, practically a bargain compared to other film’s bloated costs. And Malik certainly knows how to make a quality film — his last offering, The Thin Red Line, earned five Oscar nods.

But the director is a recluse and detests doing pre-publicity, so don’t expect him to talk about what it was like to work with Dubliner Farrell, who could really use a hit this time around, given that last year’s Alexander was such a disappointment.

The New World — all two hours and 20 minutes of it — is a big historical epic about the 1607 founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, in Virginia. The film revolves the love story between the English soldier John Smith, and the Native American he encounters, Pocahontas.

The Reporter called the film “a great looking epic . . . unexpected and avant garde,” as well it should be considering all the effort Malik put into it. It was shot over two years ago on location in Virginia and London, and Malik used one million feet of footage — the usual standard is 300,000 feet. The director then spent a year creating his final product, which was originally supposed to be released last month.

Farrell and co-star Christian Bale will be doing press interviews, and also attending the film’s premieres in the major cities. Its East Coast unveiling will take place, appropriately enough, in Colonial Williamsburg on December 21.

Though Farrell receives top billing, producers are hoping to turn the actress who plays Pocahontas, 15-year-old Q’orianka Kilcher, into a star, a la last year’s teen Oscar sensation, Keisha Castle-Hughes of Whale Rider.

Farrell, meanwhile, is in Uruguay filming some final scenes for his summer release, a remake of the Miami Vice ‘80s TV series. He co-stars alongside Jamie Foxx. Like we said, The New World is cheap at the price — Miami has a bankroll of $180 million.