Harvey Weinstein Shows Fear in Oscar Campaign; Michael B. Jordan to Campaign for Best Supporting Actor

The Weinstein Company has begun to campaign for its films at the Academy Awards and has shown vulnerability this year.

Every year Harvey Weinstein has films that will be nominated for the Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Actor categories. However, this year, the Oscar Guru has only secured the Best Actress category. The Best Picture and Best Actor categories are too crowded and his contenders are seen as long-shots.

The company will promote "121212," "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," "Salinger," "Philomena," "One Chance," "Lee Daniel's The Butler," "The Grandmaster," "Fruitvale Station" and "August: Osage County" for the Academy Awards. "The Grandmaster," "121212" and "Salinger" will not compete for Best Picture as one is a foreign film and the other is a documentary.

"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" and "August: Osage County" have been plagued with mixed reviews, and while they may get award nominations such as Best Actress for Meryl Streep, a Best Picture nomination looks like a long-shot.

Meanwhile, "Philomena," which is also a shoe-in for Best Actress for Judi Dench, has to receive more buzz in order to garner a Best Picture nod.

The two films that have the best chances at the Best Picture nomination are "Fruitvale Station," and "Lee Daniel's The Butler." However, these films are still considered long-shots. Weinstein is emphasizing "The Butler" because the Academy loved the film in an early screening back in August. Forest Whiitaker is the Best Actor contender that the company hopes will get nominated, but given the competition, which includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Robert Redford and Matthew McConaughey, Whitaker will have to campaign harder.

Meanwhile, "Fruitvale Station" has a harder path as the film did not do well at the box office and came out in the summer. Weinstein has decided to put Michael B. Jordan in the company's Best Supporting Actor campaign. The ploy seems awkward as the he is the main character in the film and carries it almost on his own. The campaign strategy is getting a lot of press from pundits with many believing that the company is scared to lose a Best Actor nomination and that it shows Weinstein's insecurities. While Jordan is a long-shot, the Academy can surprise at times, such as last year when Quvenzhane Wallis got nominated for Best Actress in "Beasts of a Sothern Wild."

However, Fox Searchlight never placed the 9-year-old in the Best Supporting Actress race.

Additionally, the company will campaign Ryan Coogler's screenplay in the Adapted Screenplay category because it is not as crowded as the Best Original Screenplay category. Once again, the company is showing its fear in missing out on a nomination.

Two questions now stand: will the company land a Best Actor or a Best Picture nomination or will it miss out on both these categories? As the guru has stated before, the films must be seen by the Academy, and given the campaigns Weinstein has pulled off, he is a sure bet in one of these two categories.