Oscar Friendly ‘Fruitvale’ Gets A Puzzling Summer Release

After all that was said and done at the Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale was said to be a true Oscar contender in 2014. It got enough buzz, and had huge players that were receiving rave reviews for their performances such as Michael B. Jordan as Oscar, and Octavia Spencer.

The official synopsis of Fruitvale is as follows:
“Fruitvale is a 2013 American independent drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a young man who was shot to death by a police officer at the Oakland, California Fruitvale rapid transit station.”

Now it’s been revealed that The Weinsteins who quickly bought Fruitvale at the festival, will release the film for a July 26 release. The film, which is also the Grand Jury Prize winner of the festival has a truly puzzling release date.

If anyone knows how to do business it’s The Weinsteins. Although they took a hit with being unable to properly market their Oscar ticket The Master, they truly picked up their game for Jennifer Lawrence and pushed her towards the Oscar gold for Silver Linings Playbook. In addition they have an impeccable track record. Under the Miramax name they took home three huge Oscar wins, and when they set up shop with their new company in 2005, they’ve been a force to reckon with every year.

The summer release date of Fruitvale is truly puzzling. Nothing says Oscar gold like a September to December release date. It’s known that if you want the words “for your consideration” in the title, it’s a safe bet to release a film in that window. However, it can be argued that The Weinsteins have something else up their sleeve with a limited release in July and another wave in September, but we highly doubt that we’ll see that for Fruitvale.

Do you think Fruitvale has a chance for an Oscar?