Had the stars aligned differently, Oliver Stone‘s "Snowden" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt may have been an Oscar contender. The picture was originally slated to open on Christmas Day, but citing the need for more time, Open Road pushed it back to May 13th. Well, it looks like the studio thinks they’ve got something with strong critical potential on their hands, as they’ve moved it yet again.
"Snowden" will now open on September 16th. Yep, that’s just a few days before the end of Toronto International Film Festival, and I’m guessing that’s not a coincidence. Deadline says the buzz is that the picture could be headed to Cannes, which is not entirely out of the question. The director has a long history with the festival, with "Midnight Express" (which he penned) screening in 1978, "Platoon" presented as part of the Cannes Classics lineup in 2006, and "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" premiering Out Of Competition in 2010.
What does this mean for awards contention? Well, beyond some outliers (such as "The Town"), movies that open in September generally don’t go the distance to the Oscars. In fact, all of this year’s Best Picture nominees opened later in the fall, except for "Mad Max: Fury Road," which is an exception to pretty much every rule this year. So, we’ll see how this plays out.
Co-starring Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Rhys Ifans, Joely Richardson, Scott Eastwood, and Timothy Olyphant, the picture will face off against the Dave Franco and Emma Roberts thriller "Nerve," and the Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall drama "When The Bough Breaks."
Are you saying The Town did go the distance to the Oscars? It had only one nomination.