Here's an unusual story ...
Paramount have pushed back Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters - the Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton starring action-horror-comedy from Dead Snow director Tommy Wirkola - from its planned March 2012 release date to January of 2013. A move like this wouldn't in itself be unusual provided the studio had no faith in the film and were looking to bury it but in this case the move is being made for the opposite reasons.
Here's the thinking:
First, Renner is riding a new wave of visibility thanks to the success of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and with Renner having two other major releases hitting screens this year - The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy - the expectation is that his star will only continue to rise. Let those other films market him to the mass audience, the thinking goes, and Paramount will benefit.
Second, with the film being in 3D and 3D having hit a rocky patch that it appears to be coming out of somewhat thanks to fewer post-conversion releases and a higher percentage of 3D films actually being shot (and shot well) using the technology, the studio wants the time to build a proper marketing campaign that shows off the 3D effect of the film. They're only getting the finished footage now, which doesn't leave them much time to do so if releasing in March.
And third: Paramount just made a great big bag of money releasing The Devil Inside in January, proving that not only does the winter slot not need to be a dumping ground where films are sent to die but with a bit of clever marketing it can actually be quite lucrative.
This also, as a side benefit, would serve to answer any lingering questions of whether the studio would rush to prepare a Devil Inside 2 for next year.
Paramount have pushed back Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters - the Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton starring action-horror-comedy from Dead Snow director Tommy Wirkola - from its planned March 2012 release date to January of 2013. A move like this wouldn't in itself be unusual provided the studio had no faith in the film and were looking to bury it but in this case the move is being made for the opposite reasons.
Here's the thinking:
First, Renner is riding a new wave of visibility thanks to the success of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and with Renner having two other major releases hitting screens this year - The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy - the expectation is that his star will only continue to rise. Let those other films market him to the mass audience, the thinking goes, and Paramount will benefit.
Second, with the film being in 3D and 3D having hit a rocky patch that it appears to be coming out of somewhat thanks to fewer post-conversion releases and a higher percentage of 3D films actually being shot (and shot well) using the technology, the studio wants the time to build a proper marketing campaign that shows off the 3D effect of the film. They're only getting the finished footage now, which doesn't leave them much time to do so if releasing in March.
And third: Paramount just made a great big bag of money releasing The Devil Inside in January, proving that not only does the winter slot not need to be a dumping ground where films are sent to die but with a bit of clever marketing it can actually be quite lucrative.
This also, as a side benefit, would serve to answer any lingering questions of whether the studio would rush to prepare a Devil Inside 2 for next year.