Paramount has decided to move the Robert Downey Jr/Jamie Foxx drama The Soloist from the end of this year to March 2009 across the pond.
The move will mean the film drops out of awards consideration, and is embarrassing for the company given that it had already started running adverts for the film.
But the studio has a practical reason for the move – it can save costs on other advertising and the film will get a chance to earn more at the box office with less highbrow competition.
Tainted
Still, there’s the problem that the film could be seen as tainted, much like Steven Zaillian’s All The King’s Men.
"We decided it's a commercial movie that will play well in the spring, and we'll give it an aggressive wide release then," Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore explained to Variety .
The Soloist, directed by Atonement’s Joe Wright, follows an LA Times Reporter (Downey Jr) who discovers that a homeless man (Foxx) is actually a forgotten musical prodigy.
There’s no word on whether it will move the planned opening here in the UK – currently February – but we’d guess it’ll be affected.
It’s a shame for RDJ, but at least now he doesn’t have to compete against himself at the Oscars and can claim that rightful Oscar for Tropic Thunder.
