Martin Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' Delayed Release Until February 2010

Martin Scorsese's newest thriller 'Shutter Island' has been officially delayed its release date until February 19, 2010.  The logic behind this has to do with two things: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio's availability to promote the film is lost, due to his involvement with 'Dark Knight' director Christopher Nolan's 'Inception,' which is due to be released next summer.  And 2. Paramount Pictures, who blame the recession for this abrupt change in events, felt that this change in their autumn schedule might draw attention to lesser-known directors and films that will have a sure shot at Oscar contention; those films being Peter Jackson's dark 'The Lovely Bones,' and Jason Reitman's gloriously independent 'Up in the Air.'  Both these films will be released in late 2009, and, hopefully, in Paramount's case, they will attract the attention of the Academy.

Now, does this mean Scorsese's newest picture is highly flawed?  Quite possibly.  But, given his recent collaborations with actor DiCaprio (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed), all of which garnered significant Oscar attention, I would be hard-pressed to imagine this film being anything less than exceptional.  Maybe Paramount wants to start 2010 strong.  Or maybe, given the Academy's decree to nominate 10 films for Best Picture starting this year, the film is vastly imperfect.  On a subjective level, being a devout Scorsese fan myself, I'm hoping for the former.