The Latest Date Changes 2: The New Batch

[Buscemi2]

It Ends with Us is a TV movie getting upgraded to a theatrical release. Even though it should do well with the CoHo crowd, I don't expect a very good end product.

[transformers2]

Ferrari has finally found a new North American home following STX's departure from the distribution world and it's..... Neon?! Along with the news of the acquisition, they've revealed that it will bow wide on Christmas Day. No word yet on whether or not a limited run will proceed that.

[Buscemi2]

Given how many flops Adam Driver's had, I can't see a major studio taking a chance on something that will end up losing money or only do well because of something unrelated to Driver.

[Screen203]

Neon has dated Anatomy Of A Fall to open on October 13th limited. I do not know when it will expand wide (my guess would be Halloween weekend or the first weekend of November, probably the former since I can't imagine they would want to compete with Dune: Part Two).

[Buscemi2]

You know how we've made fun of the full titles of the Whitney Houston, George Foreman, and Bob Marley biopics? Well, the official full title of The Hill is The Hill: The Rickey Hill Story. So we get two titles that say the same thing combined into one mess of a title. And the real guy (I only just learned he was real) never made it out of Single A so I can't imagine even the most hardcore baseball fan having interest in this one.

[transformers2]

I laughed out loud when I saw that on the MPA Ratings Bulletin last night. Strong contender for the most ridiculous title in recent memory.

[transformers2]

New Lionsgate Dates:
Saw X 9/29/23 (from 10/27/23)
White Bird TBD Q4 2023 (from 8/18/23 limited, 8/25/23 wide)
Borderlands 8/9/24
Untitled Dirty Dancing Project TBD Summer 2025 (from 2/9/24)

[Buscemi2]

I guess Saw's ad campaign is going to start up now.

And I have to imagine White Bird's getting sold off. Lionsgate doesn't seem to have much money to release it as they are hyper-focused on their other sequels to popular movies.

Also, I don't think too many people had Eli Roth's next movie being filmed, released into theatres, and hitting Netflix well before his previous movie opens.

[Screen203]

Allegedly the delays are due to the strikes, but I believe that White Bird has been done for a while, so I'm not sure if that's the whole reason why.

Also, I have to wonder if Expend4bles will move. I can't see Lionsgate having the money to advertise two films releasing one week apart from each other at the moment.

[Screen203]

On the topic of the strike, there are some rumors that Dune: Part Two will be delayed into 2024. Sources surrounding the matter are conflicted, however. Potential delays for The Color Purple and Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom were also mentioned. As of now, the dates all of Warner Bros. other 2023/2024 releases remain intact. There are also rumblings that Challengers may be delayed.

[numbersix]

As part of the strike no SAG actor can promote a film, so I imagine many studios are going to delay their films.

[transformers2]

New strike-induced date shifts:
Problemista TBD (from 8/4/23)
Challengers 4/26/24 (from 9/15/23)

Inevitably, the longer this shit drags out, the more date shuffles we'll see. I'm sure the stockholders will be thrilled with the studios as they continue to shoot themselves in the foot for no other reason than trying to play hardball with the people that allow them to make tens of millions per year.

[Buscemi2]

They'll probably just find a way to make movies without unions or competent people, as during all this, Sound of Freedom has been making money with the anti-union/anti-Hollywood crowd. And if the strikes keep going, the only movies that will get released will be things like that.

The conglomerates simply don't care about what's going on. If they did, there would have been an agreement weeks ago.

[transformers2]

They're going to start caring once their stocks start to really crater and more and more of their opportunities to earn money for the foreseeable future go out the window. No amount of greed and trying to take advantage of the actors and writers will allow them to win this battle. It's just a matter of how far they're willing to go before they break.

[Buscemi2]

A lot of the studios are simply divisions of bigger companies. If they make money with streaming or other forms of entertainment, the studios are simply a cog in the machine and any losses there can be offset with the profits of another division. Though Lionsgate might not be able to survive, another studio like Disney or Universal can eat those losses and will continue to treat the people working on their projects terribly as the revenues remain in the black.

The whole AI thing simply feels like an excuse to break up the unions and cheap out on future projects. It could be months before they agree to anything as the egos that run the studios are too big and would rather count the money they hope to save instead of paying everyone what they're worth.

As for delaying movies due to the need to have the actors promote them, I'm surprised they even care. Marketing budgets have been slashed in the past few years and unless it's Barbie or Oppenheimer, you're lucky to see anything for a movie three months before opening nowadays.