Hollywood studio delays movie releases due to economic crisis

The current financial crisis undergoing in Wall Street and Corporate America has begun to impact the entertainment industry, despite the fact that Hollywood typically takes advantage of such hard times to allure frustrated consumers into movie theaters.

Paramount Pictures is shuffling its fall and holiday season release schedule by delaying two star-driven drama movies, probably due to the economic crisis, studio budget woes and market competition, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Paramount Pictures is shuffling its fall and holiday season release schedule by delaying two star-driven drama movies, probably due to the economic crisis.

The studio will push "The Soloist" from Thanksgiving week to March 13 and "Defiance" from mid-December to a limited, Oscar-qualifying December 31 release, followed by a wide expansion in January.

Paramount said this week that it would streamline its release slate going forward, aiming to put out no more than 20 movies a year. The studio's management is under heightened pressure from corporate parent Viacom to find efficiencies amid a tough economic climate, according to the report.

"The Soloist," starring Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx as a homeless violin player, will still open the American Film Institute Festival in Los Angeles late this month, but the release date change knocks it out of the 2008 race for the Academy Awards and other honors.

The economic crisis might have made November an awkward time to release a movie about homelessness, studio executives privately told the newspaper, although "The Soloist" is meant to be an uplifting tale.

Meanwhile, Paramount is delaying the release of World War II drama "Defiance" starring Daniel Craig as the studio may want more distance from the latest James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" from Sony Pictures. The 007 movie film, also starring Craig, is scheduled to open November 14.

Another consideration is that the delay could allow the studio to push off much of the movie's release costs to next year, according to the report.