Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island will not come out six weeks from now on October 2nd, as originally planned. Instead, the psychological thriller has been pushed to February 19th.

Paramount Pictures has cited "economic factors" as its reason for pushing the heavily marketed movie to a later date. Says Paramount CEO Chairman Brad Grey: "Like every business, we must make difficult choices to maximize our overall success and to best manage Paramount's business in a way that serves Viacom and its shareholders, while providing the film with every possible chance to succeed both creatively and financially."

In movie land, February is not exactly the most endearing month. Sure, the Oscars are given out, but this month is not complimentary to one's estimation of quality of the films released in this season. (This is entirely debatable, however, considering that last February had a few hits). That being said, not only does the Oscar-buzz for the heavily-casted, Scorsese-directed Shutter Island completely vanish, but so do my hopes of it being that great. As much as Paramount may have financial reasons for the move, it's not a great sign that it's release is only a week different from the possibly doomed Wolfman, which itself has been moved from last spring to this November and now to Februrary 12th. It's also not promising that Paramount didn't stick with Shutter Island on its original release date partially because it will only be going up against the 3D re-releases of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Would people really pay more money to see a movie they probably own on DVD in another dimension, as opposed to experiencing the next film from the revered Martin Scorsese?

Shutter Island, the film about a mental hospital in Massachusetts, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kinglsey, is based off a novel by Mystic River writer Dennis Lehane. A script was written by Laeta Kalogridis. Having read and enjoyed the book, I am starting to lean towards the possibility that maybe this adaptation hasn't been getting the best of opinions so far.

Either way, it's still crazy talk to hear about a Scorsese movie, especially one that earned Oscar buzz just from one trailer and a look at its casting, moved to a not so endearing time of the movie calendar. Here's to hoping for a (good) surprise from Scorsese, DiCaprio, Kingsley, Haley, Clarkson, Ruffalo, and co.

Source: Variety, Dark Horizons