Every year there’s one Oscar category that boasts such an evident winner all season that it becomes almost morose to even speak about the subject. This year, comedienne Mo’Nique and her riveting turn as Mary Jones in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire joins the ranks of Heath Ledger’s Joker, Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth and Charlize Theron’s Aileen Wuornos as an undeniable awards juggernaut.

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Thanks to this article from Anne Thompson over at indieWIRE, it appears that The Weinstein Company has just landed a huge buy. The film is called Blue Valentine, and it’s one of the most highly-buzzed films coming out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film is directed by Derek Cianfrance, and although he is certainly a respected name in the industry, my excitement for the film stems mostly from the lead actors. Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) and Michelle Williams (Wendy and Lucy) star in this film as a married couple struggling with their mutual ambition. Based on what I’ve read thus far, it appears that the film cuts between time periods, from when the couple was young, vibrant, and happy, to their current state of misunderstandings and distance.

On top of this, Harvey Weinstein is also going after The Tillman Story, which is one of Sundance’s favorites in the documentary genre. Here is the press release:

The Weinstein Co. nabbed U.S., Canadian and Pan-Asian satellite territory rights to Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama starring the pair in a low-seven-figure deal.

WME Global chief Graham Taylor was in an anxious huddle at a restaurant off Main Street well after midnight Thursday with “Blue Valentine” producers (and his personal valentine) Lynette Howell, Jamie Patricof and Alex Orlovsky, (the team behind the 2006 Sundance hit “Half Nelson”) as all-night negotiations were going down. IFC Films and Sony Pictures Classics were also said to be in the mix.

After a somewhat rocky 2009, the Weinsteins have to be thrilled with this buy. We all know how bad Nine turned out — both critically and commercially — and although Inglourious Basterds makes up for a lot of the damage, there is still some ground to be made up. I know I couldn’t be more excited for this film, as I think Gosling and Williams are two of the best indie actors working today.

What about you? Do you think this film can help reinvigorate The Weinstein Company, or does it seem like another bust?

Oscar season is in full swing with ballots recently sent out and the ceremony less than two months. Today we have two sets of nominees. First comes from the Writer’s Guild Association, with ceremonies held on Saturday, February 20, 2010. Check out the nominees below, followed by the American Society of Cinematographers. Read the full story

Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air leads the pack with 6 nominations, announced early this morning. Nine,  Avatar, and Inglourious Basterds also did quite well. Some interesting things to take note: Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock each got two acting nominations, Julia Roberts was recognized for Duplicity. Also Clint Eastwood got nominated for Best Director, but Invictus did not grab a Picture nom. In opposite fashion, Precious was nominated for Picture, but director Lee Daniels was not. It’s a shame A Serious Man didn’t get a nomination for Picture, but actor Michael Stuhlbarg was recognized. Check out the full list below. Read the full story

The third trailer for Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) Nine has premiered on Apple in HD. The film is a musical adaptation inspired by Fellini’s famous film and the original play. Check out the trailer with the all star cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson and Sophia Lauren below. Read the full story

A set of new posters has leaked for some new award-worthy Weinstein films. A Single Man and Nine posters come from In Contention. The Road from Collider. Check them out below and click for hi-res.

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In July it was rumored that Chicago and upcoming Nine director Rob Marshall would possibly be directing the fourth entry into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. According to an AICN report from a DGA screening of Nine, when Marshall was asked about the project he said “ya’know, it’s something that I was offered and never in the world thought I would do but then I was like ‘why not?’… I’m doing ‘Pirates of the Caribbean….” The story also mentioned how Marshall and Johnny Depp got together are excited to get to work on the film. This fourth entry will be based on Tim Powers’ pirate novel On Stranger Tides which was optioned by Disney years ago. You can find the plot below.

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And there’s a little Nicole Kidman in there too, with some Fergie and Daniel Day-Lewis to boot. The song, “Cinema Italiano,” fits Hudson’s character in the film, 60s American journalist Stephanie, and will most likely offer a film history backdrop to Rob Marshall’s adaptation, referencing the time period as one of cinematic revolution in places like France and Italy. Hudson’s voice seems just fine, nothing more or less. And she’s never looked better. Funny enough, the worst part of this trailer is the lyrics to the song, or just the song itself. Here’s hoping the other number are better than this one.

The Nine buzz has been picking up a little these days, with an early review on AICN that praises the film in general, most specifically Day-Lewis’s turn as Guido Contini and Marion Cotilliard’s performance as his wife. That said, it’s safe to say this is still the calm before the storm.

What do you think of this trailer? The song that comes with it? Hudson’s voice?

It looks as though we will be seeing a lot of Nine promotion on ABC. The Weinstein Company, still struggling to stay above financial waters it seems, has signed a pact with Disney/ABC Unlimited to pepper the high-profile Rob Marshall musical all over ABC television, whether it’s applying the song “Be Italian” (from the “Nine” musical) into Dancing With The Stars (matching dress ensembles included) or name-dropped in day-time soaps.

Disney will also offer a road block-style trailer on ABC and the majority of ABC/Disney own cable channels on November 22nd. ABC.com is even devoting a microsite to the film on the master Web site, “streaming of the movie trailer and a half-hour “Making of ‘Nine’” special.” [Variety]

This harks back to the way TWC handled the release of Inglourious Basterds, splitting the work with Universal, forfeiting most of the international take to the big studio.

While it’s a smart, “hedge you bets” kind of move that worked in the case of the $300 million grossing Basterds, it’s still a bet that may not pay off. But TWC and Disney are covering all media bases, from TV to Internet. “The audience is not just watching TV,” he said. “There’s a fragmentation. They’re also online, they’re accessing shows on Blackberrys. This allows us to say, this is the depth of programming we want to access. We want to go after audiences on several fronts,” said Francois Martin, senior vice president of marketing at the Weinstein Co. [Variety].

Even with his proposed movie version of Bioshock being put on hold due to budgetary concerns, Gore Verbinski remains a very busy man.  In post-production on his next movie Rango and with several other projects in development, he seems to be too busy for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean.  Disney, however, wants this movie to happen.  This is where Rob Marshall comes in.

A story at Variety has pegged Marshall as being the director of the new Pirates movie.  Marshall previously directed the Best Picture winning Chicago and is currently in post production on his Daniel Day-Lewis 8 1/2 inspired musical Nine, and is now being courted by Disney to take over the franchise from Verbinski.  The story also says they want to begin filming before Johnny Depp begins filming Disney’s The Lone Ranger.  He may be the only returning lead, as both Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom said they will not return for a fourth installment.  Whether or not they change their minds and decide to return will have to wait and see.

To say I have no attachment to the Pirates series is an understatement.  I really don’t care for the first movie, go “meh” at the second one, and I’ve actually never seen the third one, because at that point I didn’t care.  News like this only further lessens my interest, with not having the original director or 2/3 of the lead team aboard, what’s the point?

What do you think of Rob Marshall directing a fourth film in the Pirates franchise?