“El Evento Cinematografico de la Decada!,” the copy states in the opening frames of the Spanish-language trailer for Shine a Light, the Martin Scorsese/Rolling Stones concert doc that’s been bumped from 9.21.07 to sometime in April ’08.

The official reason for the delay that the Stones’ European tour (wrapping at the end of this month) will keep Mick, Keith and Charlie from doing a full-court press promotion to plug the late September opening. And yet the tour dates and the 9.21 opening were obviously set many months ago. If the Stones wanted to rest after the tour Par could have just pushed the release back to October or November or December?
Variety‘s assessment is that “rather than enter the overcrowded award-season months of October, November or December, the principals involved in the Scorsese project opted for an April date.”
Except the bump-back leaves Paramount proper with just Beowulf (out 11.16) as the only Par-produced movie on ther fall slate. Everything else is DreamWorks-produced (The Heartbreak Kid, Things We Lost in the Fire, Bee Movie, The Kite Runner), reiterating all the more that the proper company name is Dreamamount.
I know that Shine a LIght was being assembled earlier this year and that a rough cut was shown to Paramount suits last May, and yet a source told Variety that “it was a tight schedule…everybody felt it was getting rushed.” Eight months of editing is a rush job?