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Nicole Kidman in "Grace of Monaco."
Once a film has already been made, it’s very rare for a movie studio to cancel the release -- especially a high-profile one. But that’s exactly what has happened this week, with not one but two upcoming movies!
Just a few months before their respective releases, The Weinstein Company's "Grace of Monaco” (a biopic of Grace Kelly starring Nicole Kidman) and Universal's "Stretch" (a comedy thriller starring Patrick Wilson and directed by Joe Carnahan) have both been unexpectedly pulled from the release calendar.
The two films were canned for very different reasons.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the issue with “Grace of Monaco” stems from a dispute between the studio and director Olivier Dahan over suggested changes and cuts. Sources have also cited the fact that Dahan hasn’t delivered the final version the movie to TWC yet, something that would have made creating a marketing campaign for its original March 14 release nearly impossible.
Patrick Wilson and Chris Pine on the set of "Stretch" in 2013. (Splash Images)
The directors of “Grace of Monaco” and “Stretch” are rightfully upset about having the rug pulled out from beneath their films. “Grace” director Dahan recently criticized the Weinstein Company for making changes to his movie.
"It's right to struggle, but when you confront an American distributor like Weinstein, not to name names, there is not much you can do," Olivier told a French newspaper Liberation. "There are two versions of the film for now: mine and his . . . which I find catastrophic."
It’s almost guaranteed that having “Grace of Monaco” pulled from the release schedule over the issue won’t go over well with Dahan. Despite the filmmaker’s very public dispute with The Weinstein Company, “Grace of Monaco” was just selected to open the Cannes Film Festival in May. At least European audiences will get to see the movie -- and in the way the director intended it.
“Stretch” director Joe Carnahan was obviously not happy about Universal’s decision to drop the film, but taking to Twitter he said he remains proud of the movie and is confident that it will find an audience eventually.
"Guys. Bottom line. STRETCH is f--king great. It's funny. It's touching. It's unique and [Patrick Wilson] is absolutely brilliant in it," Carnahan wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Grace of Monaco” and “Stretch” will more than likely see the light of day at the North American box office at some point. It just won't happen in March 2014, or with the studios that had initially planned to release the films.
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