George Clooney has officially shaken up the Oscar race before half of the possible contenders have even been released in theaters by moving his film The Monuments Men to a 2014 release, making it ineligible for candidacy for next year's awards.

Clooney, who acts as the film's director and screenwriter, pushed the motion picture's release date back because of his concern that the visual effects in the film wouldn't be completed in time for its originally scheduled December premiere.

"We just didn't have enough time," he told the Los Angeles Times. "If any of the effects looked cheesy, the whole movie would look cheesy. We simply don't have enough people to work enough hours to finish it."

The drama follows a group of art historians and academics as they try to rescue artwork looted by Nazis during World War II. The Monuments Men is based on a true story and stars Clooney and Matt Damon in lead roles. Early on, the film earned buzz for possible multiple Oscar nods based on its historical topic, A-list cast, and Clooney's general reputation as an acclaimed Hollywood actor.

Clooney won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana in 2005, another one of his actor-director projects. He also nabbed an Oscar this year after producing Ben Affleck's winning film, Argo.

The Monuments Men is expected to be released early next year.

The move won't necessarily take Clooney completely out of the Oscar race. His supporting role in Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity could earn him another Supporting Actor nomination.

Tags: George Clooney The Monuments Men oscar buzz Movies