'The Road' Pushed Back to November 25
Filed under: Awards, Distribution, Newsstand
Days after Jessica Barnes compiled a nice fall schedule for you, the Weinsteins and Dimension Films had to go and mess it up a little. According to Variety, they've pushed the release date of The Road back from October 16 to November 25 -- almost a year to the day when it was supposed to come out in 2008. The delay isn't because Dimension has lost faith in the film -- quite the contrary. The film is playing to rave reviews at Telluride (where our Eugene Novikov saw it and loved it) and Venice Film Festival, and the Weinsteins have realized they have an awards contender on their hands. "We've been getting great audience reaction at Venice and Telluride," Dimension topper Bob Weinstein said. "We feel that this is a commercial film that's worthy of a wide release." Considering Cormac McCarthy's book was a bestseller and won a Pulitzer, you'd think that might have tipped them off, but ah well. What's good about this decision is that it not only puts it into Golden Globe contention, it also promises a wide release. One of the big fears lurking around the film was that audiences wouldn't get it, and the film could vanish into limited release hell.
The Road will now be in direct competition with Nine, Old Dogs, and Ninja Assassin. Something tells me John Hillcoat's bleak adaptation won't top the holiday box office, but it'll make a far bigger impact. I've been saying since the first stills came out that this might be a role that nabs Viggo Mortensen an Oscar, and I'll stand by that.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-10-2009 @ 5:02PM
Jeremiah Moon said...
again?!?
FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...
Reply
9-10-2009 @ 7:21PM
Reuben said...
Again, seriously?
The recent publications of the book have all said "now a major motion picture" for months; long before we even had a trailer. Someone really needs to get their act together
Reply
9-11-2009 @ 9:23AM
NP said...
So I guess Variety's (extremely) negative review is not the majority opinion?
Reply
9-11-2009 @ 9:25AM
Elisabeth said...
So far, yes. The London Times gave it a good review, I believe others from Telluride did too -- and while a lot of reviewers are still embargoed, the buzz and whispers that have leaked via Twitter has been extremely good.
I'm anxious to hear the reviews out of TIFF though.
9-11-2009 @ 9:39AM
NP said...
@Elisabeth: fingers crossed..
Reply