Disney Postpones ‘The Alamo’ Release
LOS ANGELES – Disney has postponed the Christmas release of “The Alamo” until April because filmmakers felt they needed more time to finish it.
“Too often in Hollywood these days, release dates are set before a film has even completed shooting and it forces the director into a situation that compromises the work,” studio Chairman Dick Cook said Wednesday.
The movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett and Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston, was scheduled to debut Dec. 25. The postponement means it won’t qualify for the 2003 Academy Awards รณ where some had predicted it would be a major contender.
“Ultimately, the end product is more important than the need to meet arbitrary deadlines for awards,” Cook said.
With Tom Cruise’s “The Last Samurai,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “Peter Pan” opening in December, “The Alamo” will be dodging some tough competition.
“The Alamo” was directed by John Lee Hancock, whose other major directing credit was “The Rookie,” which starred Quaid. He also wrote the screenplay for Clint Eastwood’s “A Perfect World.”
Hancock said he wouldn’t miss the awards campaign.
“Postproduction on an epic ensemble piece takes time and no deadline, no prestige release date, no awards season is worth more to me than the movie being fantastic,” he said.
Disney initially courted “A Beautiful Mind” Oscar winner Ron Howard to direct “The Alamo” and Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe to star. But the studio and Howard clashed over how bloody and expensive the film should be, with Howard seeking a reported $125 million budget.
Hancock’s “Alamo” has been touted by the studio as an example of a cost-saving epic in an era of out-of-control movie budgets, but the delay is likely to drive its reported $80 million price tag higher.
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