The Soloist, Defiance, & The Road All Move

Academy Award season is just around the bend and studios are positioning their films for the best chance at Oscar. It seems Paramount and the Weinstein Co have decided to shuffle the deck.

One of the films Paramount thought would be in heavy in contension has not screened as well as they had hoped and has been officially bumped to next year and out of Oscar contension. Paramount has moved "The Soloist" from November of this year to March 13th 2009.

The second film Paramount has shifted is "Defiance." Defiance is a little different and has only been pushed back to the end of December instead of opening the early portion of the month. Defiance will now be released on December 31st. Not sure how many people flock to the theaters on New Year's Eve though. I think the date change is appropriate for the content of the film as well.

The last film to get a date change comes from The Weinstein Company. The date that is set, isn't too bankable either. The problem lies in the production of the film. "The Road" has still some editing to be finished up along with its original score which is being finished by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. The Road was original slated for a limited release on November 14th and a wider release on November 26th. That date has been pushed to December 10th which producers hope will be met. There is a big possibility that we may not even get the film in 2008. The film was thought to be an Award contender considering Cormack McCarthy's success last year with another one of his books, "No Country for Old Men." If the post-production doesn't finish up sooner than later, the film will be nixed from award contention all together.

Thoughts on the release date shifts for these 3 titles? Do you want see any of these more than the others? The Road, Defiance and The Soloist in that order for me. Strikeback...