The story behind post-production on Olivier Dahan‘s Grace of Monaco is beginning to sound like it would make for a great book should anyone have all the dirt on what’s going on behind the scenes. First set for a November 2013 release date, the film was then bumped to 2014 as there was talk that Harvey Weinstein and Dahan were battling over the final cut of the Nicole Kidman starrer.
The film eventually Variety reports Harvey may be looking to drop the film altogether as he and Dahan still can’t agree over the final cut.
Variety‘s Ramin Setoodeh says Weinstin “wants the film to expand upon the time Grace Kelly (Kidman) spent in Hollywood and provide further context for the political situation in Monaco, a French principality blockaded by Charles de Gaulle during the early years of Kelly’s marriage to Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth).”
The site isn’t sure if these scenes actually exist or if they would have to be reshot as Weinstein allegedly hopes to turn it into an awards contender, even though that, apparently, wasn’t the original intent behind the film. Nah, Nicole Kidman playing Grace Kelly would never be looked at as an awards contender… What do you think this is, the real world?
The bickering over the film went public last year when Dahan called Weinstein’s cut of the film a “pile of shit” an interview with the French newspaper Liberation adding, “It’s right to struggle, but when you confront an American distributor like Weinstein, not to name names, there is not much you can do… Either you say ‘Go figure it out with your pile of shit’ or you brace yourself so the blackmail isn’t as violent.”
When the film was delayed last year Weinstein said it was because it wasn’t ready. When asked about this, Dahan said, “It’s got hardly anything to do with the film. It’s only about the money, the release strategy, millions of dollars and stuff like that. It’s got nothing to do with cinema. I mean, of course it’s about cinema, but the business side. They want a commercial film smelling of daisies, taking out anything that exceeds that which is too abrupt, everything that makes it cinematic and breathe with life. A lot of things are missing.”
Ever since seeing the first trailer, watch below, the film hardly looked impressive and you can be certain all eyes will be on this Cannes premiere where the finger-pointing is sure to escalate.
