Nicole Kidman in ‘Grace of Monaco’

Movie mogul and marketing guru Harvey Weinstein has found himself yet another battle over the final cut of one of his films.  The head of the Weinstein Company has been at the center of controversy with last minute tinkering to a great many of the films he’s distributed throughout the decades.  This past year alone has seen overhauls and re-edits to films like The Grandmaster and the upcoming Snowpiercer in efforts to easier commercialize films for the best optimal success in the United States; he hasn’t been given the moniker ‘Harvey Scissorhands’ for nothing.  The latest controversy stems over the final cut of Grace of Monaco, the upcoming Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman, and director Olivier Dahan has taken to the press to voice his disapproval.

Just last month Grace of Monaco was shifted out of the Weinstein Company’s 2013 slate, the company saying the film wasn’t quite ready and angling for a more commercial run in the spring of 2014.  The shift caused a bit of stir, and rumblings that the fate of the once-thought-of awards run for Kidman’s performance as the famed Hollywood darling turned real-life princess would never come to be.  However, Dahan, the director of the international hit La Vie en Rose, which netted an Oscar for its star Marion Cotillard, has attacked Weinstein, stating to a French newspaper, “It’s got hardly anything to do with the film. It’s only about the money, the release strategy, millions of dollars and stuff like that. It’s got nothing to do with cinema. I mean, of course it’s about cinema, but the business side. They want a commercial film smelling of daisies, taking out anything that exceeds that which is too abrupt, everything that makes it cinematic and breathe with life. A lot of things are missing.”

Dahan also commented, “It’s right to struggle, but when you confront an American distributor like Weinstein, not to name names, there is not much you can do. Either you say ‘Go figure it out with your pile of shit’ or you brace yourself so the blackmail isn’t as violent … If I don’t sign, that’s where the out-and-out blackmail starts, but I could go that far. There are two versions of the film for now: mine and his … which I find catastrophic.”

However this war of words ends up, Grace of Monaco, now with slightly more blood upon its upcoming release, is currently scheduled to be released March 14, 2014.