There are a few things the Academy loves: biopics, movies about the film industry, period dramas, films inspired by harrowing true events, Meryl Streep in all of the above, etc. Oliver Stone’s Snowden ticks off a couple of those boxes with a biopic about famous NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, himself the subject of last year’s incredible documentary Citizenfour. Originally slated to hit theaters this winter, Stone’s film has now been pushed back to 2016, ensuring its absence from next year’s Oscar ballots.

Like Jean-Marc Vallee’s Demolition, THR reports that Stone’s Snowden has also been pushed back to 2016. Originally scheduled for a Christmas Day release against The Hateful Eight (opening in select, 70mm-equipped theaters that day) and The Revenant, Snowden will now open on an unspecified date in 2016. Sources say that the film is not yet finished, while others speculate that such a date change indicates that Open Road may not be very confident in the finished product.

Snowden stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden, the government contractor who leaked classified information to the press and sought asylum abroad to avoid prosecution in the US. Shailene Woodley co-stars as his girlfriend.

Demolition has also been pushed back to 2016 (read our early review of that film from TIFF), but December is crowded with major new releases, and the date changes give both Demolition and Snowden more of a chance to breathe at the box office.

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