One of the films I’ve been keeping an eye on as we march up to the awards season is Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” a re-imagining of the William Shakespeare yarn with a female lead rather than male. Helen Mirren seemed a great bet in the lead actress race and of course design heads Sandy Powell (costumes) and Mark Friedberg (production design) were going to be in the conversation.
Well that conversation will now shift to 2010, as I just got confirmation the film would not be ready until next year due to the amount of visual effects yet to be included. That effectively leaves Miramax with the already released (and mostly forgotten) “Chéri” for its lone awards hopes. It looks like it’ll be a year away from the fray, since I don’t think Mike Judge’s “Extract” is exactly going to light up the circuit.
This also whittles the lead actress race down even further, while giving Powell the go-ahead for a potential nod for “The Young Victoria,” now that the film has a US distributor. Mirren’s “Love Ranch,” directed by husband Taylor Hackford, could still be a thread if it gets picked up by a distributor. It’s getting to be that time…
I’ll update predictions again on Monday, August 31.
Comments
18 responses to “Scratch Mirren, Powell”
Jesus, it seems everything is getting postponed this year. I was really looking forward to seeing this, as Julie Taymor’s previous best was another Shakespeare adaptation (Titus).
Oh, well…
No surprise there — it is a Taymor film, after all. I always thought a 2009 release sounded far-fetched.
Miramax really should concentrate a bit of effort on Pfeiffer … the film might not have gone down that well, but she would be a worthy contender. It’s at least as strong a vehicle as, say, “Being Julia.”
Wonder how much Taymor’s been distracted by the “Spiderman” musical fiasco…
Helen Mirren will be nominated for THE LAST STATION. She’s explosive as Sofya Tolstoi, as also Christopher Plummer.
Read the comments on IMDb.
nanoush is right, they both have quite a following on IMDb. Could the Academy finally redeem itself for snubbing Christopher Plummer a decade ago?
Depends on if it gets a distrib or not. We certainly have our eye on it.
I mean this as no slight on the film, which I know very little about, but “a following on IMDb” means precisely nothing to me.
Does it mean a bigger chance for the lead actress of “precious” to sneak in IF the movie does very well??
Kris, you’re funny. The idea that the Weinsteins would sit out a year. If Cheri is all they have, then that’s what they will market for everything, including visual effects if they get the chance. Obviously, they will know well enough to focus on Pfeiffer, but try Bates too, and go for one of those 10 best pic slots. Remember, these guys got “Chocolat” in when there was only 5 best pic nominees (plus best leading and supporting actress, total 5 nods). I mean, c’mon, fucking Chocolat! Cheri for art direction, costumes, cinematography, is all viable. Throw in a hard push for best actress and best pic, and… well… Let’s just see how many nominations money can buy this year.
The Weinsteins sat it out the first two years they had their own company (2006 and 2007), so it’s hardly a stretch to think they could sit out another year.
THAT HAVING BEEN SAID…unless you’ve somehow missed three years of news, you should know that the Weinsteins have nothing to do with Miramax anymore and that the Disney branch is now headed by Daniel Battsek.
Yea, no, I knew they left (were pushed out of) Miramax and started the Weinstein Co. I just sorta thought they were still doing their oscar-thing from there. They sat out two years?!? really?!? I must really have been living under a rock these last few years. I just sort of assumed…
No, they have nothing to do with Miramax at all anymore. The Weinstein Company is a separate entity. In 2006 they had “Breaking and Entering” and “Bobby” and in 2007 they had “I’m Not There” and “Sicko” (as well as one of my favorite films of the year, “Control”).
“The Reader” in 2008 was their first Best Picture nominee.
Hm… no… I just asked the internet, and it informed me they only released crap in 06-07. The only thing that could have seemed oscar worthy at any point was Miss Potter (or Sicko if you wish to believe that), so they had nothing to go with.
Meanwhile they pushed Mrs. Henderson hard, as I remember, and somehow got the Reader in. And who’da thunk that? So in spite of my momentary ignorance and slight exaggeration, I still think Cheri will be pushed for the big prize and best actress, plus a few other awards. If only in the idle hope that some of the other contenders fizzle before they reach the finish line.
And isn’t Inglorious Basterds also Weinstein? I know, I know, wishful thinking and such… but still… (lets still assume campaign for supp actor and original screenplay at the very least)
Sicko got an Oscar nomination, didn’t it? And yeah, forgot about Mrs. Henderson Presents.
Anyway, I never once said “Cheri” would not be pushed for awards by Miramax, so I’m not sure what you’re arguing…
They were behind “Transamerica” too, weren’t they? God, 2005 was a black year.
And Erik, if you honestly believe “Miss Potter” was more award-worthy than “I’m Not There,” “Breaking and Entering” or “Control” (or even “Sicko,” for that matter), you’re out of your mind.
I read that The Last Station will have a limited release in December. Its premiere takes place at Rome Film Fest in november, so that’s entirely plausible.
There are too many unknowns in the best actress race asof know, I don’t think the Academy could resist Mirren playing Tolstoi’wife. Real person + accent + former winner = nom
Plummer has had a strong year, with Panassius and voice work in Up and 9, and he’s been in a lot of good films this decade, he’s very much due at this point
And it’s about time to give McAvoy is first nom after Atonement and The Last King of Scotland
I know Miramax won’t try this, but they definitely should try an Adventureland push. Critical approval up the yin-yang and quite a lot of broad appeal. The push would most likely not work but I only say that because pushes for movies like that hardly happen, but hey, the last movie even remotely similar is In Bruges, with a high Tomatometer in the March-April release frame, serving as a really dark comedy. Sure, both films aren’t really alike, but on paper, they both fit a certain niche that won Colin Farrell a Globe last year. Just throwing that out there.
You have no idea how excited I get for prediction updates!