The highly-anticipated George Clooney produced and directed World War II drama ‘The Monuments Men’ has been pushed out to 2014 from its original release date of Dec. 18.
This decision makes the film ineligible for the upcoming Academy Awards season but if all goes well Clooney could be a shoe-in for back-to-back Oscar nominations … should ‘Gravity’ pick up a pile of nods in early January.
Clooney revealed to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that the visual effects are not yet complete. “We just didn’t have enough time.”
He explained, “If any of the effects looks cheesy, the whole movie will look cheesy. We simply didn’t have enough people to work enough hours to finish it.”
The project, filmed in Germany and England earlier this year, weaves a tale of a band of art historians, museum curators and academics who rescue paintings and sculptures looted by the Nazis.
A star-studded cast boasts Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman and Cate Blanchett. The flick is tentatively scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures in the first quarter of next year.
Whether George’s astronaut portrayal in ‘Gravity’ with co-star Sandra Bullock is Oscar-worthy remains to be seen. The film has grossed $286 million worldwide since its release 18 days ago and has led to strong speculation that it will receive a Best Picture nomination. We’re putting our chips on Bullock to pick up a Best Actress nod.
Photo: Facebook-The Monuments Men