Claim: The Promise was first shown publicly at a film festival.

The Promise is a 2016 American historical drama film directed by Terry George and starring Oscar Isaac , Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale , set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire . The film premiered on September 11 , 2016 , at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on April 21 , 2017 , by Open Road Films .   The Promise is about a love triangle that develops between Armenian medical student Mikael -LRB- Isaac -RRB- , an American journalist based in Paris named Chris -LRB- Bale -RRB- and an Armenian-born woman raised in France , Ana -LRB- Le Bon -RRB- , during the final years of the Ottoman Empire , and during the Armenian Genocide . The film was a box office bomb , grossing just $ 8 million against its $ 90 million budget , although the studio noted the main purpose of the film was to bring attention to the story , not make money .