Harvey Weinstein: This year’s Oscars are competitive

Harvey Weinstein thinks this year’s Oscars race is the ”most competitive ever”.

The top Hollywood producer’s production firm, The Weinstein Company, has been behind many Academy Award winners in the past and will once again have several films in contention for the 2014 awards ceremony, but he admits the competition is much tougher than in previous years.

Explaining his decision to move Oscar-tipped movie ‘Grace of Monaco’ – which stars Nicole Kidman as actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly – out of its awards season release date in November to spring 2014, Weinstein said this year’s Oscars race is ”the most competitive season I’ve ever seen”.

Speaking at Zurich Film Festival, he added: ”The only reason [for the move] is because it just wasn’t ready. The score wasn’t ready, a lot of things weren’t ready. Also we’ve played no festivals on that movie, so it’s hard to get into an Oscar race without at least some festival exposure.

”The movie is going to be fantastic and very glamorous. I think this could be bigger than ‘My Week with Marilyn’ and in the same category of classy, intelligent filmmaking.”

Weinstein still has many films firmly in the mix for next year’s awards ceremony, however.

The Weinstein Company will release eagerly awaited movies such as ‘Philomena’, which stars Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan; ‘August: Osage County’; ‘The Butler’ featuring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey; Nelson Mandela biopic ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ which stars Idris Elba in the lead role; and finally, ‘Fruitvale Station’ starring Michael B. Jordan.