Business

Knicks, Rangers owner looks like a winner — in Hollywood

Jim Dolan is finally looking like a winner — for an Academy Award.

While the New York Knicks have been perennial losers under his ownership, Dolan-controlled AMC Networks is gearing up for its first Oscar race for Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” a coming-of-age opus already considered a serious contender for Best Picture.

“The Oscars is definitely something we’re going to be doing and we’re putting the early steps in place,” an AMC insider said. “The film is continuing to do business.”

AMC’s IFC Films took a big gamble on “Boyhood,” which follows the life of a young boy and was filmed over 12 years. It has notched a 100 percent positive rating on Metacritic and 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

With such stellar reviews, it might be that the only thing standing in Dolan’s way on the road to Oscar is his good friend — but soon-to-be Hollywood nemesis — Harvey Weinstein.

If “Boyhood” keeps up its momentum, Dolan’s team will be competing against a film slate backed by Weinstein, who pioneered the modern Oscar campaign.

Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax and the current co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., has a long history of Oscar tactics ranging from whisper campaigns to splashy events designed to sweep awards season.

In one of his more famous exploits, Weinstein managed to secure enough votes to push “Shakespeare in Love” past “Saving Private Ryan” for Best Picture.

Right now, “Boyhood,” released July 11, is ranked second on Oscar prediction site Goldderby, just behind Sony Pictures Classics’ “Foxcatcher,” a November release with Steve Carell about two wrestlers involved in a crime.

Weinstein Co.’s contenders are set to break over the next few months and include “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” with Jessica Chastain; “The Imitation Game,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch; and “Big Eyes,” with Amy Adams, slated for Christmas Day.

Dolan and Weinstein are good friends frequently seen together, but this year’s race is getting competitive earlier than usual with the Labor Day start of the Telluride Film Festival, and Toronto the following week.

Sources say the competition just to screen the top movies is intensifying.

“It’s interesting with Telluride and Toronto, everyone is fighting for the prestige titles,” said one film exec.

Studios big and small alike are maneuvering to line up the hot Oscar consultants to work on their campaigns and book the prime ad real estate earlier than the usual September kick-off.

Sources said the main competition is shaping up to be an indie game given the lack of major studio offerings so far this year.

Fox Searchlight is likely to field Ben Affleck’s picture “Gone Girl,” while Universal is being tipped to back Angelina Jolie’s directorial offering in “Unbroken.”

“There are a lot of auteur voices this year that are working outside the system,” one Oscar insider said.