With the Weinstein Co. having such a turbulent year, and money woes certainly on the horizon, the production company has decided to bump all of its major releases, save “The Reader” and “Zach and Miri Make a Porno” to 2009.
We have already expressed our disappointment that the Viggo Mortensen-starring adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” has been bumped out of Oscar contention and into 2009. Now it appears that they have done the same with the already-delayed”Fanboys,” the Harrison Ford and Sean Penn-starring drama “Crossing Over,” the John Cusack vehicle “Shanghai,” and the Mickey Rourke-starring “Killshot” which has has numerous release dates over the past few years.
When Harvey Weinstein spoke to the LA Times’ Patrick Goldstein, he was quick to insist that the changing of release dates has nothing to do with the financial health of the company but have all been done because they believe the beginning of 2009 will keep their films from being buried under the mass of pictures set to be released in late 2008. Regarding “Crossing Over” Harvey said, “The market is just too crowded. Every week there are five more movies coming out. It’s too crazy. Spring is much better-there are a lot more wide-open dates. The most important thing is to do well by the movie.” As far as the Mickey Rourke-starring “Killshot,” Harvey is hoping to capitalize on the Oscar Buzz from “The Wrestler.” “Everyone has said that Mickey Rourke is amazing in “The Wrestler” and will be up for all sorts of awards, so we decided to move ‘Killshot’ to a date a few weeks before the Oscars.”
He also said that “Shanghai” was not being released in 2008 because the film simply was not finished. “It just couldn’t be ready in time.” Whatever their reasons for moving their films are, there is no getting around that the Weinstein Co. is a sinking ship at the moment who must hope that these recent date changes can grab them a few extra bucks.
The Weinsteins hayday is over. The 90’s was their years, and brow beat themselves through the award season. But, they no longer own the independent film scene, which is how it goes. You are top for so long, that once it is over, you don’t know how to act, when you are in a pack with everyone else. That’s what’s happening. I have not been impressed with the films they have made either. They used have quality, now its all about the bottom line. You would think it would be the other way around, since they are gazzilionaires now. But I guess they are worried about getting money back to their investors.
Cheers!!