The Weinstein Company is putting its ducks in a row as crunch time for Oscar campaigns finally begins to crunch. After a woeful reception at the Venice Film Festival, Madonna’s feature directing debut, W.E., has been pushed back to a Feb. 3 release date, outside of its December Oscar-qualifying run. The move is allegedly designed to make the most of the singer’s rumored Super Bowl halftime performance, which would take place on February 5th [THR].
W.E., which parallels the infamous romance between American Wallis Simpson and Britain’s non-King Prince Edward (he turned down the crown to marry Simpson) with a modern romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard, has been mostly silenced since a rough string of festival showings, with critics calling Madonna’s film “irredeemably silly,” “banal,” “preening, fatally mishandled.” It would appear Weinstein is now focusing on Madonna’s name, rather than her talents or the talents of her rising star Abbie Cornish.
TWC has also pushed back Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, the Margaret Thatcher biopic that nobody’s seen but everybody’s convinced will garner star Meryl Streep her third Academy Award and first in 30 years (the last time she one it was for Sophie’s Choice). The film will now open on December 30th [Deadline].
Streep will competing with another veteran actress, Glenn Close, who’s genber-bending performance in Albert Nobbs is still buzzing. A key difference between the two performers, however, may be that Close has never won an Academy Awards, despite 5 nominations over a long, impressive career. Still, let’s not forget TWC is opening The Iron Lady while the yet-to-prove-themselves Roadside Attractions is opening Nobbs. The smart money’s on Weinstein eeking out a statue for their Oscar lady-in-waiting.
Who do you think will win the Best Actress Oscar this year?