Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has high hopes for Madonna's directorial debut after announcing plans to release the drama in time for the awards season.

The pop superstar's new movie W.E. partly chronicles King Edward Viii's romance with American divorcee Wallis Simpson, which forced him to abdicate the British throne to his brother.

And Weinstein is so impressed by the project, which stars James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough, he is planning to release the film in America in December (11) - when studios traditionally offer up their best efforts for Academy Awards.

He says, "Madonna beautifully interweaves past and present in W.E. It's a very smart film, and a stunning feature directorial debut. I'm incredibly excited about this movie and I wanted to give it a prominent release date".

Ironically, Weinstein was the mastermind behind this year's (11) Best Film Oscar winner The King's Speech, which was released late last year (10) in America to boost its Academy Awards chances.

In that film, Colin Firth, who picked up a Best Actor Oscar, portrayed Edward Viii's stuttering brother, King George VI.

femalefirst.co.uk