The Latest Date Changes 2: The New Batch

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Focus is probably doing it to retain screens after Piece by Piece inevitably flops. Seriously, who's the audience for Piece by Piece?

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IMO, releasing Conclave wide immediately is a mistake, and could lead to it being overshadowed by other releases. Focus seems very confident in it, though.

Agreed. Shifting it up to square off against Venom instead of leaving on the 1st where the biggest title on the schedule is Here makes it even more of a head-scratcher. Why Universal has become so opposed to platform releases is completely beyond me

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IMO, releasing Conclave wide immediately is a mistake, and could lead to it being overshadowed by other releases. Focus seems very confident in it, though.

Agreed. Shifting it up to square off against Venom instead of leaving on the 1st where the biggest title on the schedule is Here makes it even more of a head-scratcher. Why Universal has become so opposed to platform releases is completely beyond me

My best guess as to why Focus moved Conclave back is to avoid competition with Here and Juror #2, but they could have still done a platform release. They may also be thinking of the success of The Menu in 2022, but the Thanksgiving holiday seemed to give it time to spread positive WOM, and there isn't really that much in the way of similarities besides both being thrillers starring Ralph Fiennes.

In addition to lesser commercial prospects, I think that the initial wide release for Conclave could affect its awards prospects if it doesn't perform well, causing it to fade from memory by awards season.

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If anything hurts Conclave, it's the PG rating. Sure, the Vatican is a hard subject to sell to a mainstream audience but the solid reviews and stellar cast are enough to overcome that. But there aren't a lot of adult-aimed movies with PG ratings. It's a rating for kids' movies and Conclave is definitely not a movie for kids. This move could end up confusing potential audiences not familiar with the source material or the previous work of the principal players.

And Focus largely stopped doing platform releases after lockdown ended. Some of the strangest movies got 200-300 theatres right away.

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Following its great reviews out of Venice and Telluride, Paramount has acquired the worldwide rights to September 5. It'll begin its domestic rollout on November 27th.

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The Substance is opening wide right away. Two theatres in my area are getting it.

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Small Things Like These is set to release on November 8th.

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Sony has picked up the domestic rights to the Spyglass-backed Valentine's Day slasher comedy Heart Eyes and dated it for February 7th, 2025.

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The fact it's co-written by the creator of the Happy Death Day series makes me think it's going to appeal solely to angry young men who hate romantic movies.

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Tran wondered about Pantera a while back. It's staying put at January 10th, at least for now.

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Heretic has moved up a week to November 8th.

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Sony has dated an Untitled Keke Palmer/SZA comedy project for January 24, 2025

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The Shrouds has finally found a US home at Sideshow/Janus. A Spring 2025 release is being eyed.

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WB has finally confirmed the long-rumored title of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan's Vampire Project to be Sinners ahead of its trailer release tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Maria will debut in theaters on November 27th and on Netflix on December 11th.

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Kind of surprised Netflix is going ahead with an awards campaign for Maria. Reviews weren't that great and as Jolie's other festival title got some of the worst reviews out of Toronto, it wouldn't surprise me if Maria was ultimately snubbed in any awards race.

In other news, I thought we would go two years without a new Dinesh D'Souza conspiracy fest but on Friday, some theatres are actually going to show his latest. You'd think he would have gone to The Daily Wire or Rumble by now instead of continuing to think it's still 2012 and that people still remember him.