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UPDATED WRITETHRU: There's fallout today from Paramount's newly announced decision to release 20 movies a year. Already bigwigs are shuffling the 2008-2009 release schedule -- and that has Oscar ramifications for one pic. I can tell you that DreamWorks is very upset because Paramount is taking its Robert Downey Jr-Jamie Foxx starrer The Soloist out of Academy Awards contention by moving it 
from a limited release on November 21st until March 13, 2009. This is extreme since ads on all sorts of media platforms have already started appearing for the Oscar-touted movie based on Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez' accounts of a homeless violin player. Soloist insiders fear the delay will prompt a lot of web speculation that something is "wrong" with Joe Wright's pic when everything is right. I'm surprised especially because Downey has really good awards season and box office heat from Iron Man. But Paramount instead will be pushing the actor for Tropic Thunder consideration.
Paramount also is delaying its Vantage pic Defiance, the Ed Zwick-directed Academy Award hopeful starring Daniel Craig in the true story of four Jewish brothers battling the Nazis. The movie was supposed to come out December 12th, but it will be pushed back to an Oscar-qualifying run on December 31st, and then go wide January 16th. So the delay won't interfere with its 2008 Oscar chances. By the way, these release delays for Defiance and The Soloist won't affect their opening and closing the Los Angeles' AFI International Film Festival starting November 30.
Conspiracy theorists will postulate that Paramount did all this so it could put more of its Oscar campaign money into The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Revolutionary Road this year. "But it has nothing to do with that. It has to do with the metrics of managing its numbers," one Paramount exec tells me. In English, that means more of the "economic reality" which studio boss Brad Grey explained to Paramount employees yesterday in that house memo. The studio is looking for "consistency of product" now that it's releasing 20 movies a year so I'm told it took these steps to make sure "we don't have a giant hole next year," in the words of one bigwig
Paramount To Open Only 20 Films A Year; Re-Consolidated Studio Will Save $50M
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Does this mean that Paramount is pulling the two films from screening at the AFI Film Festival in LA? “The Soloist” is set to be the Opening Night Gala on October 30, and “Defiance” is set to be the Closing Night Gala on Nov. 9.
Sounds like this is an effort to stop the bleeding that Sumner Redstone is taking recently… can Paramount really afford to market and distribute 4 films in this short window considering the financial climate? I think not.
That makes sense to save money and spread out the product into next spring. But pushing Downey for Tropic Thunder? Why waste money on that? Not gonna happen.
It is really about the fact that they don’t have a co-fi deal or a pay tv deal and they have real financial issues as a result.
Who would have thought that Lions Gate would have more money than old Paramount?
they’re moving The Soloist from November to March??!?! Aw, man, what a stupid move.
My cinema already has 2 or 3 Soloist posters displayed, which say “COMING NOVEMBER 2008.”
Great move, Paramount!
I have to disagree about The Soloist concerns. Having seen a cut of the film I have to say that while the theme may scream “Oscar” the films itself doesn’t. If it were released in time for consideration I suspect it would be tossed in the pile of movies with Oscar intentions but no follow through. Sorry, but there’s nothing about the movie which I think would make it a contender (and I say this in the face of the fact this isn’t going to be an A+ year for Oscar worthy pics).
Re: Tropic Thunder…please tell me that the idea of Par building an Oscar campaign around anything related to that film is a cruel joke. The film itself is fine, but if Par is trying to drag anything Oscar out of it Brad G. needs to be fired.
The move of “Defiance” doesn’t make any sense as they are now going to open it on the same day as “Benjamin Button”. True, it might be a very limited release but how would you expect it to get any attention when the studio is telling people to focus on a different film?
As for “The Soloist”, I think it’s a good move. It’s about time studios started putting quality dramas out during the first quarter of the year. Also, the film was currently going to go up against “Twilight” so the box office chances will be better.
While I’m still holding out hope for both films, part of me thinks that these moves might have as much to do with quality of the films as it does anything else.
Shame. Downey brought Par. a lot of money this year, and now they kill his Oscar chances.
Defiance I wouldn’t mind seeing. Becouse of the World War two history behind it. Plus Danial Craig is cool. I’m looking forward to seeing in Quantom of Solace. I would love see a biopic on Ian Fleming.
the screening scores on soloist are so low that word is that the film is not releasable. typical DW to drop this turd on Paramount then whine about how it hurts the talent. Another DOA film from DW. If they like it so much, get the Indians to pay for it and release it through Universal.
Joe Wright is somewhat of a perfectionist it seems. Even if it’s been “rushed” to release by some (particularly for Mr. Downey’s benfit) the integrity of the film is more important.
That being said, I don’t think it’s about RDJ and an academy nomination. The film has to be right and all the ducks have to be in order. Last year, Atonement (Joe Wright director) was caught up in all the hype and I actually think it backfired on a wonderful, artful film indeed.
I have seen cuts of this film also. It was depressing. Who, in these times, wants to see a depressing movie?
Will someone tell me what the hell happened to Jamie Foxx?