Post by MagdaFR on Oct 7, 2017 1:20:42 GMT
As storm clouds gather around movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in the wake of an explosive New York Times report with allegations of sexual harassment and other misbehavior, his company’s Oscar season hopefuls are staring down an unsure future.
Frankly, though, this year’s potential contenders — “The Current War” and “Wind River” — were already facing an uphill battle. Unlike previous years when the Weinstein Co. and Miramax juggled numerous strong awards contenders, mounting expensive, competitive campaigns and lavish Oscar and Golden Globes parties, the company’s financial woes have resulted in pared-back awards spending.
Frankly, though, this year’s potential contenders — “The Current War” and “Wind River” — were already facing an uphill battle. Unlike previous years when the Weinstein Co. and Miramax juggled numerous strong awards contenders, mounting expensive, competitive campaigns and lavish Oscar and Golden Globes parties, the company’s financial woes have resulted in pared-back awards spending.
Weinstein had high expectations for Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s “The Current War.” The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon as electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, respectively, in a story of the duo’s cutthroat turn-of-the-century race to determine whose system would power the modern world. But reviews at the Toronto Film Festival seemed to seal its fate. The film “can’t generate even the slightest bit of interest in what happens to any of its characters,” reads Variety‘s review.
So it was back to the editing suite, where Harvey Scissorhands, his longstanding nickname for his heavy-handed control of the editing process, would step in. That was in fact where he said he was on Wednesday when Variety reporters first reached out to him about the then-upcoming New York Times report. But for a film that has already been dismantled by critics — it currently sits at 31% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 42 score at Metacritic — the merciful thing might be to hold it for 2018 rather than release it under a cloud.
“That’s the question of the week,” one person involved with the film said. Gomez-Rejon could not be reached for comment.
So it was back to the editing suite, where Harvey Scissorhands, his longstanding nickname for his heavy-handed control of the editing process, would step in. That was in fact where he said he was on Wednesday when Variety reporters first reached out to him about the then-upcoming New York Times report. But for a film that has already been dismantled by critics — it currently sits at 31% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 42 score at Metacritic — the merciful thing might be to hold it for 2018 rather than release it under a cloud.
“That’s the question of the week,” one person involved with the film said. Gomez-Rejon could not be reached for comment.
In the wake of “The Current War’s” Toronto stumble, the Weinstein Co.’s efforts appeared to shift to its August release “Wind River.” Indeed, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan’s (“Hell or High Water”) directorial debut, a murder mystery set in Wyoming’s snow-blown Wind River Indian Reservation, is the embattled distributor’s biggest success story of the year.
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The campaign gears are already turning; a pair of screenings was recently set for this weekend at the DGA Theater in Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Sheridan, stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, and key crew members will be on hand for post-screening Q&As.
But the last thing an indie success story hoping for an awards season profile needs is a scandal overshadowing its efforts. Through his publicist, Sheridan declined to comment.
...
The campaign gears are already turning; a pair of screenings was recently set for this weekend at the DGA Theater in Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Sheridan, stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, and key crew members will be on hand for post-screening Q&As.
But the last thing an indie success story hoping for an awards season profile needs is a scandal overshadowing its efforts. Through his publicist, Sheridan declined to comment.
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