'The Light Between Oceans' release date, news: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander period drama gets fall release

"Prometheus" actor Michael Fassbender and "Ex Machina" actress Alicia Vikander are both in the running to take home major Academy Awards later this month, with him earning a Best Actor nomination for "Steve Jobs" (2015) and her getting the nod for Best Supporting Actress for "The Danish Girl" (2015). But while this year's Oscars may still be a couple of weeks away, Fassbender and Vikander may already be contenders for next year's awards ceremony, with their film "The Light Between Oceans" having just received a fall release date.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Disney and DreamWorks announced that "The Light Between Oceans" will be released nationwide on Sept. 2, which is just in time for the beginning of the Oscars season. The film, which was shot in 2014, is the last from DreamWorks to be released by Disney (via its Touchstone label) under the two studios' five-year output deal. DreamWorks films will now be distributed by Universal under the new agreement with Amblin Partners. "The Light Between Oceans" was produced by David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford.

Starring Fassbender as Tom Sherbourne, a lighthouse keeper, and Vikander as his wife Isabel, the film is based on the 2012 Australian war fiction of the same name by author M.L. Stedman. The novel tells the story of the Sherbournes' move to an isolated island and how, after struggling for years to have a child, they one day chance upon a lifeboat with a dead man and a live baby inside. Against Tom's judgment, the two raise the child as their own but must face the devastating consequences when they return to the mainland.

"The Light Between Oceans," which is directed by Derek Cianfrance, also stars Rachel Weisz as Hannah Roennfeldt, Florence Clery as Lucy/Grace, Caren Pistorius as Adult Lucy/Grace, Anthony Hayes as Vernon Knuckey, Emily Barclay as Gwen Potts, and Leon Ford as Frank Roennfeldt.

"The Light Between Oceans" sails to cinemas on Sept. 2.