We’ve seen release dates become more fluid as movies prove that January or March can launch a hit or that summer tentpoles can find success in April, but now even the day of the week is becoming flexible. Wednesday blockbuster releases have been old hat for a a while, but this last Christmas season saw films’ pulling Tuesday 8:00pm openings, Wednesday openings, Sunday openings for Christmas itself, week-long IMAX previews before Wednesday openings… all kinds of crazy shit. With pre-theatrical VOD releases shifting things around, it might not be long before we stop associating movies with Friday nights altogether.
These thoughts are prompted by the earth-shaking news that This Means War–the Chris Pine and Tom Hardy spy flick in which they battle over Reese Witherspoon for some reason–will be moving its release date from President’s Day weekend to Valentine’s Day on February 14th, which happens to fall on a Tuesday. As you can see, another studio has decided synergy is more important than a clean opening weekend frame.
They claim this is the result of “outstanding test screening and amazing word of mouth” and by god, I hope it’s true. The trailer is extremely lame for it to be a film starring two guys I really enjoy watching, and yes, I EVEN mean the part where Bane gets shot in the balls with a paintball gun. That said, maybe it’s good for ole Tom Hardy that he doesn’t get shoved in the same dour box as Christian Bale right off the bat, considering his similar physical intensity and predilection for edgy characters…
In any event, you now know your VD date movie, if you’re destined for those sort of plans.
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