Well, if you thought the half-finished, test-screening speculation on Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity" last week was bad enough, just watch what some corners of the Internet will be saying about this latest update on the film.
Warner Bros. has bumped the ambitious sci-fi thriller from its originally planned release date of November 21st to a currently undetermined date in 2013. RUH-ROH! THE FILM IS IN TROUBLE! Actually, let's just take a moment to consider things. The movie would have landing on a holiday weekend that follows "Skyfall" opening two weeks earlier and "Twilight: Breaking Dawn — Part 2" the week before. If that's not enough, it would've faced competition from "Red Dawn," "The Silver Linings Playbook," "Parental Guidance" (that movie with Billy Crystal/Bette Midler) and "Rise of the Guardians" (in 3D no less) all opening wide at the same time. All that with Warner Bros.' sister company New Line dropping "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" two weeks later, taking on more 3D screens and basically making the window for "Gravity" two weeks long to pack 'em in before Peter Jackson strangleholds ticket sales and 3D glasses.
Our guess? It's a strategic move to not only give "Gravity" more room, and hell, give Alfonso Cuarón a bit more time get the extensive special effects in place, half of which aren't even done yet. As we said last week — despite those saying they saw a finished version just sans effects — this movie could change shape between now and whenever its released. So, no need to panic folks, "Gravity" will come but we're just going to have to wait a bit longer for it. So what will take its place? Well, there is a certain movie called "Cloud Atlas" that WB has North American distribution rights for that has long been rumored for a fall release. Just saying, don't be surprised if that falls into November somewhere….
Meanwhile, after floating without a release date, "Gangster Squad" will now arrive a month earlier than it was initially planned for, with a September 7th date penciled in. What does it mean? Well, TIFF kicks off on September 6th so you do the math…we'd put a pretty large wager on "Gangster Squad" (and its red carpet-worthy cast of Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, etc., etc.) opening the fest. We think this probably means its Oscar chances aren't so hot, and given the pulpy trailer we dont think it's a bad guess. And it will be alone that weekend as the only wide release, so from a box office perspective, it's a smart play. [BoxOfficeMojo]
Gangster Squad doesn't look Oscar worthy, whatsoever.
I figured Gangster Squad was gonna be released sooner rather than later, after the release of the trailer. It's not very often a trailer is released for a film with no release date.
Dang, that sucks. Not cuz I think it's in trouble, just cuz we have to wait longer. I've been thinking this was going to be one of the best movie years in a long time, and it probably still will be, but I was hoping this was going to be one of the highlights of the year. Oh well, still looking forward to it!
Test screenings suck. I've been to one. It was for "Love Actually" and believe me, it's an unpleasant experience. You're asked so many questions about what works and what doesn't. While there wasn't much of a difference from what I saw in the original cut and final cut of the film. It kind of ruined the whole movie for me. Though there were parts about I like and stuff I didn't like. I will never go to a test screening again. Even if it's for an unfinished film.
Now I have to wait on 2013. Motherfucker!
How are all three of your last posts better served by beginning them with "well"?
They knew what Gravity would be opening against months ago. It's not like the calendar shifted dramatically recently. How much audience overlap would this have with Twilight? Or Rise of the Guardians? Postponing it after it test screened just doesn't look good.