Martin Scorsese’s 'Shutter Island' Pushed Back To 2010

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Paramount has pushed back Martin Scorsese’s latest film, "Shutter Island", from Oct. 2 this year, to February 19, 2010. The Leonardo DiCaprio-starring adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s ("Mystic River," "Gone Baby Gone") novel is the second high profile project to be pushed back from Fall this year to February next year. Earlier this month they moved "The Wolfman" to Feb. 19 (a week before "Shutter Island’s" new date).

The reasons for "Shutter Island’s" release date move - a film that some people already have on their predicted Oscar nominee list - are many, but the main ones are a lack of financing (for the home video market) and DiCaprio’s lack of availability to promote the film internationally. An insider (of Nikki Finke’s at Deadline Hollywood) is saying that the studio is hoping that "Shutter Island’s" chances will be helped with the new date because of the multi-Oscar-winning "The Silence of the Lambs" being released in a similar February date back in 1991. And now that the Academy has expanded the amount of Best Picture nominees from five to ten, it will be easier for the film to get an nomination.

Along with the DiCaprio promotion availability problem, and the Oscar nomination attempt for 2011, there could be a couple of other reasons for this move: The studio thinks it will make more money early next year and wants to spend their money on other projects before the end of 2009. And expanding on the Oscar nomination thing, they may think there are other Oscar-worthy films this year that will be severe competition.

Either this is an early warning sign that "Shutter Island" is really not that great and is being dumped to cover that up quickly and quietly (a lot like Paramount's decision to move "The Soloist" to April). Or just a sign that Paramount is out of their minds and somehow thinks that they can get more out of it running it in February. Either way, this is a very shocking decision. The official trailer has been playing since June and the film was supposed to only come out in a few months.
What do you think about the studio pushing Shutter Island back to next year?
As stated, "Shutter Island" has had its release date changed from October 2, 2009, to February 19, 2010.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, First Showing