Once predicted to be a major Oscar contender, Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light, starring Tom Hiddleston as the country music star, has had its release date moved to next year in the US, spoiling its chances of being nominated in the coming awards season.

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Originally set to open on 28 November, Sony Pictures Classics has now pushed the drama back to 25 March, 2016. It premiered as part of this year’s Toronto film festival to mostly disappointing reviews but with some praise for Hiddleston.

The film has a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the critical reaction, the co-president of Sony Pictures Classics has claimed the change in release is not because of negative reviews.

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“We looked at the landscape and are making a decision that I think is a good one for the film,” Tom Bernard told Deadline. “Tom Hiddleston’s got three movies out potentially, so the press is consuming him. What we saw was I Saw the Light up against the wall in this tight race of people throwing their Oscar movies out, and it’s almost all or nothing.”

Bernard said the March release won’t affect their attempt to push the film for Oscars in 2017. “We thought this was a movie we could do a lot for leading up to its release that I think will put it in a much better place, and we’ll be able to go for [Oscars] next year with him and re-open it at Christmas.”

The best-actor race is dominated by Michael Fassbender’s performance in Steve Jobs, with Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant also tipped for glory.

