Even though neither Silver Linings Playbook nor Django Unchained brought The Weinstein Company an Academy Award for Best Picture, they’re already working on taking over next year’s Oscar race. Unfortunately, Christoph Waltz has yet to be involved.
The Weinstein Company’s most recent acquisition, reports Deadline, is the drama Grace of Monaco, a biopic of the iconic actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly. She will be portrayed by Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, who is seen below in the first official still released from the film. TWC reportedly dropped between $4 million and $5 million for the rights, with at least $10 million in guaranteed prints and advertising. It’s safe to say Harvey Weinstein is wearing his confidence on his sleeve.
As striking as Kidman’s beauty is, the image is about the most predictable picture one could imagine. In the film, Kidman plays Kelly years into her princess role, at a time when she assisted her husband Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) in a dispute with French President Charles De Gaulle over tax laws. The film also stars Parker Posey, Frank Langella, Paz Vega and Milo Ventimiglia, and was directed by Olivier Dahan (My Own Love Song) from a Black List screenplay written by Arash Amel (Erased).
Prince Albert of Monaco recently lambasted the film, calling the portrait of his mother’s life “pointlessly glamorized” and accused it of having “important historical inaccuracies” and “scenes of pure fiction.”
Also on the Weinstein Oscar docket for 2013 is the recently-acquired Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, starring Idris Elba and the star-studded adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning dysfunctional family play August: Osage County. Grace of Monaco is looking at a December release, which puts it smack dab in the middle of the award bait buffet.
