The race for the Academy Awards has a crowded field this year, with roughly two dozen films vying for nominations and maybe, just maybe, a golden dude. But two possible contenders have apparently dropped out before the contest has really begun. Entertainment Weekly editor-at-large (and friend of Reel Talk) Dave Karger reports in his Oscar Watch blog that "The Road" and "The Soloist" have been bumped until 2009.

Reasons for the moves are still unclear, but "The Road", which stars Viggo Mortensen and is based on the Cormac Mcarthy novel, apparently was shifted by The Weinstein Company because Weinstein wants to focus its Oscar campaigning on "The Reader" (a film with behind-the-scenes drama of its own, as producer Scott Rudin reportedly took his name off the film after disagreements with studio chief Harvey Weinstein).

The reasons for moving "The Soloist" may have to do with a simple numbers crunch.

Basically, Paramount Pictures decided it had too many films being released this year and as part of a new company strategy to release just 20 movies per year, chose the Robert Downey Jr./Jamie Foxx drama to be bumped to March of '09.

Studio sources insist the move was strictly about corporate economics, saying a smaller slate of movies will greatly reduce marketing costs, and had nothing to do with the quality of the movie.

Of course, Downey Jr. shouldn't be too bummed. Paramount is apparently readying a big Oscar push for his hilarious supporting turn in "Tropic Thunder."