Why is Scorsese’s Shutter Island Getting Pushed Aside?
by Britt Hayes
I was sitting in the theater this evening, about to finally watch Inglourious Basterds (Benjamin Bussey’s review), when I noticed during the trailers that theaters are still showing the trailer for Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Shutter Island.
According to Variety, Paramount chair CEO Brad Grey made an unexpected announcement last week when he revealed that Shutter Island would be pushed back from its imminent October 6th release date to February 19th, undoubtedly excluding it from any possible Oscar noms. Although TV spots hadn’t begun yet, many magazines have already featured the film in their Fall previews.
But why the move? Scorsese is an oft-lauded, brilliant film maker, and a guaranteed source of profit. Shutter Island probably isn’t missing out on any Oscar success. Scorsese already got his Oscar for directing, as belated as it was, and he’s now free to take more risks with his career. A horror movie, for Scorsese, is a definite risk, especially in this contemporary film climate. Studios are too scared to take risks right now. Why should they? Sequels, prequels, re-imaginings, reboots, do-overs, remakes, and whatever else you want to fucking call them, are king. It’s the old adage: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And Hollywood has no intentions of fixing a profitable system. When you revisit the same material repeatedly, and it keeps putting asses in seats, the dollar sign is God, and there’s no room for originality any more, particularly in horror. And why pay a visionary writer with original and exciting material to write a great script, when you can just hire a few hacks, eager for a buck, to adapt from pre-written material, or reinvent a franchise? It’s easy.
But for Scorsese??? My initial perception just can’t be right. According to the Variety article, Paramount hasn’t really spent a lot of money marketing Shutter Island yet, and with no major releases slated for early next year, they can safely shuffle Shutter Island to a later date and still have a profitable year for 2009. So that’s what it all comes down to: money. They just want to save a few dollars. Never mind fans of Scorsese and horror alike, who were counting on this film to kick start October, a beloved month for fans of all genres. October is the month of Halloween, and a month we all count on for great horror titles. And for fans of film in general, the fall is the time when all the major Oscar contenders come out to play. You can always count on at least a couple of great films before the end of the year, especially after a long, loud, and over indulgent summer.
Much of the Variety article focuses on financial speak, and for genuine fans, it’s just not something we care to hear.
