The Soloist Pushed to 2009?

Nikki is reporting that The Soloist has been pushed back to March, 2009, making it a contender for next year’s Oscars. She is also reporting that Defiance will screen for Oscar consideration but will officially open in 2009:

UPDATED WRITETHRU:¬†There’s fallout today from Paramount’s newly announced decision to release 20 movies a year. Already bigwigs are shuffling the 2008-2009 release schedule — and that has Oscar ramifications for one pic. I can tell you that DreamWorks¬†is very upset¬†because Paramount is taking its¬†Robert Downey Jr-Jamie Foxx starrer The Soloist out of Academy Awards contention by moving it from a limited release on November 21st until March 13, 2009. This is extreme since ads on all sorts of media platforms have already started appearing for¬†the Oscar-touted¬†movie based on Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez’ accounts of a homeless violin player. Soloist insiders fear the delay will¬†prompt a lot of web speculation that something is “wrong” with Joe Wright’s pic when everything is right. I’m surprised¬†especially because¬†Downey¬†has really good awards season and box office¬†heat from Iron Man. But Paramount instead will be pushing the actor for Tropic Thunder consideration.

One of her commenters brings up the AFI Fest and whether The Soloist will still open it and Defiance will still close it (probably).