“A release date bump” to 2014 for Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” — rated a leading contender for the Best Picture Oscar by most pundits — “is looking very likely,” reports veteran Oscaroligst Kris Tapley at Hitfix.
I’ve been hearing from sources in the know for a while that Scorsese’s fact-based Wall Street drama with Leonardo DiCaprio is not sufficiently far enough along in its editing process to be ready even for showing at a “surprise” screening at the New York Festival, which debuted Scorsese’s “Hugo” as a work-in-progress “surprise” two years ago.
Last year, the surprise slot went to “Lincoln,” which was also billed as being “not finished” — probably as a sop to the AFI Film Festival, whose official “world premiere” occurred afterwards.
The fact that Paramount didn’t immediately swat down this speculation about plans to move “Wolf’’ off its Nov. 15 release date — also picked up by the recycling artists at IndieWire, may be telling. And Paramount — which would have a hard time fitting “Wolf” into a jam-packed December schedule — may also have significant financial motives here.
A Paramount rep said in an email Tuesday that the film is “still on our slate for 2013” — which is not the same as denying the move is under consideration.
As Tapley noted, Paramount reaped big grosses ($130 million) from its decision to move Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” with DiCaprio from a December 2009 opening during awards season to a release to the less crowded February 2010.
Though I’d guess that if “Wolf” is indeed moving, it will more likely go into the second week of May slot where another serious DiCaprio film, “The Great Gatsby,” cleaned up this year as counter-programming to early summer blockbusters. “Gatsby,” you may recall, was also moved out of an awards season opening (by Warner Bros.), supposedly because it wasn’t ready in time.
The Weinstein Co. has already moved “Grace of Monaco” with Nicole Kidman as the erstwhile Grace Kelly, out of its Thanksgiving weekend slot into 2014. I tend to doubt this film — which centers on French politics — was ever going to be a contender, at least based on the lackluster trailer.
Moving a film with apparently limited commercial prospects may also shield it somewhat from collateral financial damage inflicted by “Diana,” another doomed princess film starring Kidman’s pal Naomi Watts that Entertainment One will open stateside on Nov. 1 after horrific reviews out of London. And it saves money for the Weinsteins, who have committed to expensive awards campaigns for a sizeable number of other supposed contenders.