What happens when you mix rising action star Jeremy Renner, Bond girl hottie Gemma Arterton, Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola, and producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay?
Apparently a film that isn’t so good.
Paramount has announced today that the film resulting from the above collaborators, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, has been moved from its original March 2 release date to January 11… 2013. Frankly since we haven’t seen a trailer (or even a poster) yet that’s not surprising, but not only is it’s very unlikely for studios to push a film that is that close to release back so significantly, but early January tends to be the typical dumping ground for films studios don’t have much faith in (hence why Paramount released The Devil Inside, one of the worst films I’ve ever seen, in January… and I hope you were smart enough to avoid it!) A studio executive told Deadline that the reason for the move is to take advantage of Renner’s sure-to-increase profile, saying, “Jeremy Renner’s international profile should be in great shape after being in Mission: Impossible 4 now, then The Avengers in May, then The Bourne Legacy in August. As this past weekend shows, January is great play time internationally, and we haven’t done too bad domestically in January, either.”
While that makes sense, it still doesn’t explain why Paramount doesn’t slot the film in a more audience-friendly month instead or even attempt to promote it yet. As a result, it definitely hints to “this movie is in trouble.”
Paramount is also shuffling some other release dates on its schedule:
Eddie Murphy’s next movie, A Thousand Words, is being moved from March 23 (opening against The Hunger Games) to the already-loaded April 20 (with the biggest film the Steve Carell comedy Seeking a Friend For the End of the World). Believe it or not, the movie was originally shot in 2008 and had a number of release dates (and then some reshoots in early 2011) since. An Eddie Murphy comedy doesn’t have a chance in hell of doing well on that date, so it’s likely that the reshoots didn’t help much and the studio just wants to be rid of it.
Finally, the Paramount Vantage Jason Segel and Ed Helms comedy Jeff Who Lives At Home will receive its limited release on March 16 (it was originally set for March 2). It’s also kind of an odd move, since now it will compete against 21 Jump Street (starring Jonah Hill) and Casa de mi Padre (starring Will Ferrell), all of who tend to draw the same audiences.
While Paramount — which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2012 — might have been the #1 grossing studio in 2011, I have to admit these films and subsequent release date shuffling doesn’t seem to suggest Paramount will repeat in 2012… despite The Devil Inside making over $33 million at the box office this weekend (Seriously? It was horrible!)
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