‘September 5' Acquired by Paramount

Speaking of the Oscar race, “September 5” has landed at Paramount Pictures (via THR’s Scott Feinberg). “September 5” will hit theaters on Nov. 27 before expanding in December with a “major awards campaign behind it”.

Feinberg has been propping up “September 5” for almost a month now. The film didn’t screen at TIFF and was overshadowed by more buzzy titles at Venice and Telluride. It won’t be going to either NYFF or London. With that said, I do believe that, with strong reviews, it has a shot at cracking the Best Picture lineup.

Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Leonie Benesch star in “September 5,” the third feature from director Tim Fehlbaum (“The Colony” and “Hell”), a dramatic thriller about ABC Sports’ coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack in which Palestinian militants took hostage Israeli athletes. The story is told from the perspective of the broadcasters.

Here’s Variety…

“Written by Fehlbaum and Moritz Binder, the script is a pulse-pounding exploration of the moral responsibilities of journalists, making it a strong contender for the Writers Branch to cite in the best original screenplay category. The film’s crisp 91-minute runtime, coupled with Hansjörg Weißbrich’s sharp editing, further enhances its awards potential.”

The film premiered at the recent Venice and Telluride film festivals, while garnering positive reviews, and being compared to past Best Picture Oscar winners “Argo” and “Spotlight.” It currently has a 79 on Metacritic and finished 2nd in the yearly Telluride attendees poll.

This all begs me to ask whether Paramount is now second-guessing its Oscar prospects for “Gladiator II,” or maybe “September 5” is their backup plan just in case Ridley Scott’s epic fails to garner much Oscar buzz in November.