Change your diaries, we’re going to have to wait until next year for 'Jupiter Ascending'.
It’s time to change our summer viewing plans, because sadly, Jupiter Ascending will not be coming to a theatre near you this July. The Wachowskis’ ‘space opera’, starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum was scheduled for release on July 18th 2014, but now it won't be coming to us until next February!
It's now a much longer wait for Jupiter Ascending
So why the change? Well, apparently it’s all down to those tricky visual effects. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll know that Jupiter Ascending is heavy on the special effects, so it’s no real surprise that they could be the cause of the hold up. Dan Fellman, Warner Bros’ president of domestic distribution said, “We’ve been trying like hell to get this finished, but there are over 2,000 visual effects shots in the movie, and it’s just not gonna happen in time.”
However plausible the explanation is, it is still pretty strange that Warner would only be discovering the special effects hold up now. After all, they’ve been pretty heavily promoting the film ahead of it’s summer release, which was only a month away. That’s some pretty bad forward planning.
More: 'Jupiter Ascending': An In-Depth Look At The Wachowski's Space Opera
So which films are no longer facing competition from Jupiter Ascending, or vice-versa? Well despite it being the summer, July isn’t actually too heavy on the blockbuster front. The only real competition would have come from Dawn of Planet of the Apes, which comes out the week before (July 11th). On the 18th the main competition would have been from comedy Sex Tape, starring Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz.
Now, with a February 6th release, Jupiter Ascending will go up against Johnny Depp’s comedy crime caper Mortdecai and Jeff Bridges fantasy adventure Seventh Son. But if the Wachowskis' do have a box office hit on their hands, a top of the charts reign will surely be short lived as Fifty Shades of Grey is released the next week.
More: Jupiter Ascending Pushed Back To 2015
The new slot holds both positives and negatives for the epic fantasy adventure. The beginning of the year is notoriously low on blockbusters, so Jupiter Ascending will most likely benefit from being the only big budget action flick on offer. However a release date anywhere near Fifty Shades of Grey is less than ideal. No matter how that movie turns out people will still be queuing up to see it.
Channing Tatum and those ears, now coming in February
Since Jupiter Ascending has been moved to February 6th, Warner Bros have now pulled Liam Neeson action flick Run All Night which was scheduled for the same date. The studio has now said it will be released 'some time' in 2015.
If pushing Jupiter Ascending’s release means we’re getting a better movie with even more amazing looking special effects, then we’re all for it. Honestly, to us at least, the film was looking pretty epic anyway. But a February release could give the ‘space opera’ an opportunity to really shine without any blockbuster competition. Perhaps Jupiter Ascending will end up being the go to movie for those of us who aren't excited about Fifty Shades of Grey and trust us, there’s a lot more of them out there than you think.
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