To be released on December 25, 2013

[kim]

Tapley is now saying that a release date change for WOWS is looking likely

For instance, what's going to happen to Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street?" Word is Paramount execs were getting their first look at the movie over the weekend, but almost no one has seen it yet as the director has been hard at work whittling down a typically massive first cut (with elements that would easily yield an NC-17 rating, by the way). At this point, a release date bump is looking very likely. But does it go to 2014 or to December?

The studio smartly moved Scorsese's "Shutter Island" from Oct. 2009 to Feb. 2010 a few years ago, a decision that netted nearly $130 million in box office for the film and did wonders for Paramount's first quarter that year. This year they have a pretty back-heavy 2013, including a pair of movies that should be commercial successes: "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" and "Jack Ryan: Shadow One." Something ought to give, but it most likely won't be "Wolf," given the marketing dollars already allocated. I suppose it could still make the Nov. 15 release date (a date that, by the way, the studio recently earmarked for rolling out "Nebraska" -- an increasingly viable Best Picture play). But more sensible would be a move to December for "Wolf" with Christmas-slotted "Jack Ryan" shuffled off to first quarter 2014. We'll see how it all plays out.

www.hitfix.com/in-contention/off-the-carpet-whither-wall-street#SXCkkBQ5XBK7AE2e.99

[will]

Thanks, kim. I'm all for discounting Tapley's comments, but the one thing that worries me is that we don't have a second trailer yet. Of course, Hugo's second trailer was released mid-October, but in this case we've been expecting it for a while.

At least, the one new tidbit we can take from his article is that the film was just shown to Paramount over the weekend.

[will]

From Lou Lumenick / NY Post:

I’ve been hearing from sources in the know for a while that Scorsese’s fact-based Wall Street drama with Leonardo DiCaprio is not sufficiently far enough along in its editing process to be ready even for showing at a “surprise” screening at the New York Festival, which debuted Scorsese’s “Hugo” as a work-in-progress “surprise” two years ago.

Last year, the surprise slot went to “Lincoln,” which was also billed as being “not finished” — probably as a sop to the AFI Film Festival, whose official “world premiere” occurred afterwards.

The fact that Paramount didn’t immediately swat down this speculation about plans to move “Wolf’’ off its Nov. 15 release date — also picked up by the recycling artists at IndieWire, may be telling. And Paramount — which would have a hard time fitting “Wolf” into a jam-packed December schedule — may also have significant financial motives here.

A Paramount rep said in an email Tuesday that the film is “still on our slate for 2013″ — which is not the same as denying the move is under consideration.

As Tapley noted, Paramount reaped big grosses ($130 million) from its decision to move Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” with DiCaprio from a December 2009 opening during awards season to a release to the less crowded February 2010.

Though I’d guess that if “Wolf” is indeed moving, it will more likely go into the second week of May slot where another serious DiCaprio film, “The Great Gatsby,” cleaned up this year as counter-programming to early summer blockbusters. “Gatsby,” you may recall, was also moved out of an awards season opening (by Warner Bros.), supposedly because it wasn’t ready in time.

nypost.com/2013/09/24/oscar-watch-will-wolf-of-wall-street-move-to-2014/

[will]

And... here's the dreaded report:

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street -- headlining Leonardo DiCaprio -- won't be ready for its Nov. 15 release, raising the possibility that it won't be a contender in this year's Oscar race.

Insiders say Scorsese's cut of the film is 180 minutes long, and that he's currently in discussions with his producers about how to shorten the running time. Red Granite is fully financing and produced the drama, with Paramount handling the film domestically.

Paramount and Scorsese are hoping that the movie, based on former broker Jordan Belfort's best-selling memoir, will be completed by Christmas in time for an awards run. If not, Wolf of Wall Street would be pushed back to next year. Either way, it won't be ready for a sneak screening at the upcoming New York Film Festival.

If it is done in time, Paramount will push back the release of Kenneth Branagh's Jack Ryan from Christmas Day to Jan. 14 and give Wolf of Wall Street the Christmas Day slot, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Jack Ryan would open over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, a lucrative moviegoing weekend that saw Paramount's Cloverfield gross north of $40 million.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paramount-could-shift-wolf-wall-635624

[creamtangerine]

Casino is 178 minutes long. What's an extra 2 minutes?

[will]

I guess the 3-hour cut does not include credits. Those would put it at 3h10'.


More:

Jeff Goldsmith
‏@yogoldsmith
As for Wolf of Wall Street news, I heard a few weeks back that Scorsese *loves* the 3 hour cut! Yet contractually must chop to 2 hrs. Bummer

8:56 PM - 24 Sep 13

Jeff Goldsmith
‏@yogoldsmith
Other odd Wolf of Wall Street news was that it was foreign contracts that needed the 2 hour cut, so a U.S. version *could be 3 hrs if wanted

9:02 PM - 24 Sep 13

[sikri06]

I really REALLY hope that Marty makes a director's cut for the Blu-ray. I don't think he has ever put out a different cut than the theatrical for any of his films, but if there ever was a reason to do it, it's this time.
That way we get to see the long NC-17 version that he wanted us to see and they can release their short theatrical version with an R.

[nas78]

Are we talking about art or meat here? What kind of bullshit is that?
So Marty agreed beforehand that his film will be 2 hours sharp? (Are u fucking kidding me!?)
Just because Jeff Goldsmith spreads rumors around doesn`t mean it`s true.

[sikri06]

I'd rather see it pushed a nearly full year to October 2014, than see it dumped in February - May like Shutter Island. Let it go to Cannes first. They will probably love it.

[will]

I don't see Scorsese wanting to continue working/promoting Wolf while he's preparing/filming Silence. I'd think he'd want to finish with this one completely before moving on to the next. Silence requires a completely different state of mind.


Friedman has the 'move to 2014" story:

I’ve confirmed with sources the Wolf will not be at the door until next year. Disappointing for everyone, but good things come to those who wait.

www.showbiz411.com/2013/09/25/scorseses-wolf-of-wall-street-likely-out-of-this-years-oscar-race

[arnzilla]

A couple of Friedman debunkings...

www.goldderby.com/forum/topics/view/2997/page:5#post_228636

[nas78]

I don`t believe a single thing (About the cut and the release date).
All these big heads with their ''sources'' are laughable.
The suits probably found a cheap way to create hype for the film and they got hooked like a fish.

All i care is TWOWS to be a great film. Everything else is just noise.

[will]

Sept 26, 2013 15:58:59 GMT -5 arnzilla said:

A couple of Friedman debunkings...

www.goldderby.com/forum/topics/view/2997/page:5#post_228636

I think Tom O'Neil was attempting a joke, to make fun of all the recent bloggers and their sources telling them what's up. If he had real news, he would have posted on his main site, not at the forum.


Something's up, though, that's for sure. I'd say, let's wait for Paramount, but i don't think they've figured out which way to spin the delay.

[nas78]

Exactly what we needed. MORE Paramount sources (Oh. And it`s all Marty`s fault in case u r wondering)

www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/goldstandard/la-et-mn-oscars-2014-wolf-wall-street-foxcatcher-20130929,0,1365448.story

[will]

thanks, nas.
Let me post the important parts:

"We're preparing for several different scenarios," says a source at Paramount Pictures, the studio releasing "Wolf," adding that the original Nov. 15 date is definitely not among them.

One possibility: Paramount could move "Wolf" into the Christmas Day slot currently occupied by the studio's action franchise reboot, "Jack Ryan: Shadow One." ("Wolf" would actually open Christmas Eve in order to make the one-week run necessary to qualify for Oscar consideration.) "Jack Ryan" would then be bumped to early 2014 to accommodate the shift.

Or, "Jack Ryan" could simply stay put and Paramount would slot "Wolf" early next year, a calendar spot that worked well commercially in 2010 for another Scorsese movie, "Shutter Island." That film had its release date changed too. Originally slated for the fall, Paramount pulled the plug on an October release, saying it couldn't afford the fourth-quarter expenses involved in releasing and marketing the movie.

With "The Wolf of Wall Street," a complicated tale that mixes the mob, financial fraud and corporate corruption, the delay can be pinned on Scorsese, who's still cutting the movie with longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker. At a reception last week for another Paramount Oscar contender, Alexander Payne's exceptional "Nebraska" (the studio will also have Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" in its awards-season mix), talk centered on "Wolf," its long, three-hour cut and what would need to happen for the film to arrive in 2013.


"Truthfully, the only person who knows when the movie is going to be done is Martin Scorsese, and he probably doesn't even know," said a Paramount source. "It's the equivalent of a painter putting that last brush stroke on his work. That's what we're waiting for right now, that last brush stroke."

[...]

Sources at Paramount say they very much want Scorsese in this year's race and that the studio would happily do the jockeying necessary to accommodate a Christmas release date for "The Wolf of Wall Street."

"It can still happen," says a Paramount executive. "We're just waiting for Marty."

I think this is as close as we can get to an official statement from Paramount, at this stage.