George Clooney's 'Monuments Men' Moves to 2014, Out of the Oscar Race

Whoa. Just as the upcoming Oscar race regained Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, it loses a big contender. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that George Clooney's Monuments Men won't be ready for its targeted Dec. 18 release date.

"We just didn't have enough time," Clooney said Tuesday by phone from London, where he and producing partner Grant Heslov were to start a 16-hour scoring session with composer Alexandre Desplat and a 110-piece orchestra as part of their race to complete the film. 

"If any of the effects looked cheesy, the whole movie would look cheesy," said Clooney, who directed the film and stars in it. "We simply don't have enough people to work enough hours to finish it."

It sounds like Monuments Men will open in early 2014, which reduces its chances of being an Oscar contender the following season. The film has all the making of a major awards player — Clooney as director and star, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, heroes versus Nazis — I'm a bit surprised to see the Los Angeles Times report that "Clooney said Oscar attention was never his goal for the film."