Looks like Harvey Weinstein has an embarrassment of Oscar riches this year. Just a couple weeks after The Weinstein Company peppered the awards season slate with release dates for “The Iron Lady,” “Coriolanus,” “My Week with Marilyn” and “The Artist” he’s throwing one more potential contender into the mix.
The studio has announced that Madonna’s sophomore directorial effort “W.E.” will start its rollout on December 9th. Starring Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac, Andrea Riseborough and James D’Arcy the highly ambitious film tells the parallel stories of the love affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, which led to the royal’s abdication, and the contemporary story of a woman, Wally Winthrop, with romantic problems of her own, in addition to her obsession with the life of the Duchess of Windsor. Mega producer William Orbit (probably best known for manning the board of Madonna‘s smash hit “Ray Of Light”) and composer Abel Korzeniowski are helping on the score which adds some additional luster to the film’s awards season potential.
With much of the film still under wraps, it’s clear that Harvey, who is no stranger to burying a movie when he thinks it’s not gonna work (still waiting on “Shanghai” Harv), believes that the film is going to be some major bait and it certainly adds a new twist to how the next six months are going to play out. Expect this one to make a major impression on the fall festival schedules with a premiere at Venice looking likely.