Anytime a film has its release date pushed back there is a story behind the decision. In the past it was a blatant sign of a failed product and the studio was wrestling with decisions on how to salvage the production. These days that is not the automatic interpretation as release dates have become far more fluid, as much the case of studios taking care rather than taking pains to save face.
Now we are not even through month number two and already we have seen a handful of titles released on dates not originally penned for their debut, and there are dozens more ahead. So what is going on? There are a number of factors, and the best way to assess the date-shift craze is to approach this on a monthly scale and gauge the reasons on a title-by-title basis.
One thing you will note is that many new influences are in play to push back a film’s opening.
Take the trio of big ticket titles this year.
Star Trek Into The Darkness, Man of Steel and
Thor The Dark World all have been given new dates, but the reasons here are far from negative. For starters, all three saw the move occur prior to principal photography so attributing poor quality simply does not apply. For
MOS Warners felt they could see a better return on a super hero title in summer, rather than a Christmas 2012 debut.
Trek 2 had its initial shoot delayed until J.J. Abrams would be available following his work on
Super 8, and he only agreed pending the schedule move. As for
Thor 2 MARVEL had initially parked it in a summer position but together with Disney figured it was too close to their other hero sequel,
Iron Man 3, so in order to maximize returns they set it in a November slot. Even with
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire coming up a fortnight later the holiday frame will give the thunder god legs.
So what of the rest of the schedule?
January saw a high amount of travelers, beginning with
Gangster Squad. Originally cast at the end of last summer it was preceded by the theater shooting in Colorado, and since the film contained a theater shooting scene it was deemed a victim of social circumstance (though more than a few critics declared it was at home in the early calendar wasteland of bad films). Next on tap was
Hansel & Gretel, a title which bears all the markings of the problem child. Originally slated for March 2012 it was moved nearly a year forward to compete in the weak field of the January dumping ground. On the opposite end of the scale you have
Zero Dark Thirty which has had a number of target dates to fit its growing stature. Once pegged to open before the election it was shifted repeatedly before being positioned as Oscar caliber and given a slow rollout before going wide late in the month.
As is often the case, when one film moves it has an effect on many other titles trying to position accordingly.
February shows Lionsgate had a problem when
ZD30 moved into its release frame for
Stand Up Guys and faced a tough call; opting to avoid that head-to-head the studio decided it better to push the title ahead into the always brutal Super Bowl weekend.
March opens with a questionable big ticket move in
Jack the Giant Slayer. Warners pushed that Brian Singer epic back from mid 2012, and they tried to suggest it was in order to replace the evacuation of their long-delayed
Arthur and Lancelot from that spot. However this seems more like studio spin -- a nine month shift is rather stark. One way to measure if a film is repositioned due to quality is to measure the strength of the corresponding release date. (
H & G went from the weak March session to the dismal January round, for instance.)
Jack had originally been planned as a summer release, then went to the softer March frame. Then it was moved again, away from the 3/22 slot to get some distance from another relocation. Paramount stunned the cinema world when they abruptly announced last summer
G.I. Joe: Retaliation would be sent to a new March, 29 date. Abrupt is putting it mildly. There was little over a month before its premier when it was yanked from June (where it was moved forward to fill the original
Star Trek 2 vacancy), ostensibly to retool the film for a 3-D retrofit. It was a tough sell from the studio, declaring the film would be improved with a format growing out of fashion, especially since
Joe tie-in products had already been deployed to toy shelves.
Another telling reposition was the Baz Luhrman retelling of
The Great Gatzby to
May. This had been considered a potential awards player at one time, but then Warner Brothers announced it was pulling out entirely from the 2012 holiday schedule. With no token releases to even qualify for Oscar season it portends this may be a less-than must-see affair.
June will finally bring about the long talked about Brad Pitt action/epic
World War Z, another title sporting the traditional baggage of a lengthy delay. The production is three years old, Pitt was reportedly fighting with the director, reshoots were taking place around the time of its original release, and numerous writers were being hired to rework a script while the production was under way – any of which could be considered a dark omen.
Following in
July we find two films that changed addresses, but for starkly different reasons. First, Disney arrives with its troubled attempt at making
The Lone Ranger a relevant event. The shoot was problematic and the studio stepped in to get director Gore Verbinsky in line in order to control the budget, only to see the film become delayed and go over budget. Disney later moved their
Robopocalypse adaption back one full year, so now they position their siphoning production on the lucrative Independence Day weekend in hopes of recouping some cash. On the other side, lightly considered
The Conjuring was moved to more fertile territory. Once set for a January 2013 date (an occasionally profitable time for low-budget horror) word has it that the film has tested in front of audiences so well that it has earned a summer slot to maximize exposure and profits.
August brings
Elysium, Neil Blokamp’s follow up to his hit
District Nine, and it seems as if it has been upcoming forever. It received heavy press at ComiCon last year, and Matt Damon’s bald visage has been an internet fixture. Then it was announced it was sliding from this March to later, in August, which Sony is selling as a move filling the slot that opened up when the studio pushed its reboot of
Robocop to early 2014. If it is actually due to a less than stellar product at least it will be helped by making a second splash at ComiCon this year.
There are two other titles leaving the revolving-door that is March, these both to the
October frame.
Captain Phillips has Tom Hanks in this actioner based on the real events of the Somalai pirate hostage crisis. It is believed that advance word is all positive and Sony is actually looking reproduce the result of the similar-in-many-ways
Argo, which earned raves as it played out last fall, hoping for a similar mix of high acclaim and high profits. Less notable is another Sony product with MGM, their remake of the horror classic
Carrie. This appears entirely based on competition. March became a clogged schedule that would sap profits, and not only is it a more logical date for this subject but the perennial Halloween franchise
Paranormal Activity showed signs of losing its steam with audiences last year, so the hopes are for stealing ghastly thunder.
The end of the year sees one of the longest delayed films finally seeing light in
December. Keanu Reeves stars in
47 Ronin, and with all of the varying influences on release mobility this one bears ALL of the traditional hallmarks of a plagued production. Universal has been battling with its director, it is well over budget, reshoots have been made, and calls for adjustments to its content have all been documented. The film has seen a number of planned release dates and so far is set to open over one year from its originally planned premiere. After all of that it is impossible to tell if the high-profile Christmas Day release means the studio still has faith it is a major release, or if it is an attempt to use the fertile slot as a means to earn back some of the losses.