The Latest Date Changes 2: The New Batch

[Buscemi2]

And God Particle has been delayed again, this time to 4/20/2018. It also looks like the IMAX run has been canceled (at this point, it's likely going to be a 17-day theatrical-to-VOD/Netflix window title).

Meanwhile, Johnny English 3 will open on 9/20/2018 via Focus Features (the first two came out through Universal proper).

[Buscemi2]

Sony has pushed The Leisure Seeker to 3/9/2018 (from 1/19/2018). Sounds like they're going all in on Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and their other Oscar titles.

[Buscemi2]

After months of forgetting that it was even on the schedule, Open Road has rescheduled Show Dogs for 4/6/2018. Just stick a fork in it at this point.

Meanwhile, A Prayer Before Dawn will open on 4/13/2018. Box Office Mojo lists a limited opening but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go wide right away.

[Buscemi2]

Universal surprises us by sneaking in the home invasion thriller Breaking In for a 5/11/2018 wide date. I wasn't even aware of this film until five minutes ago.

And some Fox dates:
Deadpool 2 5/18/2018 (from 6/1/2018) (Fox must expect Infinity War and Solo to disappoint)
The Kid Who Would Be King 2/14/2019 (from 9/28/2018)
The New Mutants 2/22/2019 (from 4/13/2018) (and Fox must see this as a disaster)
Gambit 6/7/2019 (from 2/14/2019) (Gore Verbinski has left the project)

[Shrykespeare]

Well, I knew drafting New Mutants was a risk. Looks like I'm resigned to 9th or 10th place. Dammit.

[Buscemi2]

Universal takes advantage of the New Mutants delay by moving up Truth or Dare two weeks to 4/13/2018. The Friday the 13th date should benefit the selling another of shallow tween horror film from Blumhouse.

And I don't think that will be the only change on that date.

[Buscemi2]

Universal has scheduled two more Blumhouse placeholders at 5/31/2019 and 1/30/2020 and moved the 9/6/2019 placeholder to 12/13/2019. Is there really any need to speculate what they are?

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has scheduled an untitled animated film for 12/22/2021 (possibly another Lego movie).

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Universal takes advantage of the New Mutants delay by moving up Truth or Dare two weeks to 4/13/2018. The Friday the 13th date should benefit the selling another of shallow tween horror film from Blumhouse.

And I don't think that will be the only change on that date.

Rampage should move up a week. There's nothing big in April at all now to challenge it, and getting as far ahead of Infinity War is the smartest move.

[Buscemi2]

I'm convinced Paramount's going to push A Quiet Place back a week and one of the limited titles goes wide (most likely A Prayer Before Dawn though Beirut is possible and I'm sure Sony will try to sell The Rider as something it's not just because rodeos feature in the plot). That Sgt. Stubby movie would seem like a fringe wide title (think The Oogieloves or a religious film from a fly-by-night label but with a better cast) but I'm convinced that will get sold off like Animal Crackers was and move to June or July (a possible place for it is Entertainment Studios as they plan to release 18 films this year, so far they've got three on the schedule plus a placeholder in June).

In other news, Shazam! is back on and will open on 4/5/2019. At least it's more likely to happen at this point than Gambit.

Also, Mary and the Witch's Flower will now be a Fathom Events screening instead of a traditional wide release. Seems like this one was picked up more for a home video deal rather than GKIDS actually expecting to make money with a theatrical run.

Edit: the supposed reason for the New Mutants delay has been revealed. Apparently, it's not as bad it seems. The issue Fox had was that it wasn't scary enough. Which gives me two questions. First, why does X-Men need to be scary? And second, why a ten-month delay? If Fox wants to sell it as horror, open it on October 26th to take advantage of Venom and Halloween drops and push Dark Phoenix to next summer.

[numbersix]

A Prayer Before Dawn won't go wide. Ever. It's too niche, too intense.

[Buscemi2]

You haven't seen A24's marketing on it. They've been promoting it better than some of their big movies so you just know they're thinking 600 theatres. And remember, they put Free Fire out wide and at one point considered going wide with A Ghost Story.

Back to dates, Warner Bros. will open the IMAX documentary Pandas on 4/6/2018. That should be a good $10-15 million made over a couple years.

[Aquamann2001]

Any word on War with grandpa being pushed Yet?

[Buscemi2]

With the Weinstein sales currently going on (there's something like six or seven bidders so far), you can make sure that The War with Grandpa will not open in February. I'm convinced it will end up on Netflix.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Same with The Upside, I'm assuming. I wonder why/how Paddington 2 was sold so quickly but the rest of TWC's backlog hasn't been touched?

[Buscemi2]

Studiocanal and David Heyman threatened to seize Paddington 2 away from Weinstein (this was a film that was picked up for distribution), forcing a sale to the highest bidder. Also, Paddington 2 had box office potential while the rest were basically no-hopers.

Mary Magdalene was apparently sold to Sony a while back but it looks like it's getting pushed from March.