‘Killing Them Softly’ Gets Moved Again, All the Better for Awards-Baiting

By  · Published on September 12th, 2012

After the box office bust and critical disappointment of their Lawless (hey! I liked it!), The Weinstein Company has pushed back their potential awards contender, Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly, to the more awards-friendly date of November 30. The film was last slated for a release on October 19, after being moved there in July, when TWC moved it off its first release date (September 21) after they announced that The Master (another one of their awards contenders) would open in limited release on September 14 and then expand on September 21.

In regards to the choice, Deadline Hollywood reports (via /Film) that Harvey Weinstein commented, ““In this industry it is a very rare event to look at a weekend where your movie could open as the only wide release picture…November 30th will allow us to bring Killing Them Softly to a wide audience without competition. Additionally, the critical response to the movie has been very favorable especially on the amazing performances and November 30th positions us better in the Awards season calendar.” Two points for honesty.

Simon saw Killing Them Softly back during Cannes, and he called it “an artfully crafted, occasionally very funny satire dressed up in tough-guy leathers and packing a knuckle duster punch.” Check out his review HERE, and give the film’s trailer a look right HERE.