'The Tender Bar,' shot in Worcester and Fitchburg, to be released by year's end

WORCESTER — Filmed in Worcester and Fitchburg earlier this year, “The Tender Bar” will be released before the end of the year, allowing for Academy Awards consideration.

Amazon Prime announced this week that the film - directed by George Clooney, starrting Ben Affleck - will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 17, before a nationwide theatrical release on Dec. 22.

On April 8, Clooney directed Affleck in a series of exterior scenes involving vintage ‘70s cars on Maverick Street in Fitchburg.

On April 12, Clooney and Tye Sheridan (“Ready Player One”) shot inside the old Commerce High School building off Main Street in Worcester. Reportedly, the interior of the old school was transformed into the bustling newsroom of the New York Times, circa mid-1980s.

Scenes were also shot in other Massachusetts communities.

The movie is based on the memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer, who got his start as a news assistant at the New York Times.

For those who would rather watch “The Tender Bar” in the privacy of their own home, Prime Video will be streaming the movie starting Jan. 7.