Roland Emmerich's "2012" Gets Delayed

[blu-mike]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090121/film_nm/us2012_1


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – In a move designed to maximize box-office potential, Sony Pictures is delaying the release of the sci-fi action feature "2012" from July 10 to November 13, two weekends before the lucrative Thanksgiving period.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, who's known for disaster spectacles such as "Independence Day," "2012" centers on Mayan prophecies of apocalypse. Its cast includes John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover and Thandie Newton.

"We've had such success with the James Bond films in November that we wanted a big tentpole film in that slot this year," Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said Tuesday. "We've got so many films in the summer that this is the perfect answer to that."

The 007 film "Quantum of Solace" opened amid light competition over the comparable box-office weekend last year to gross $67.5 million en route to a franchise-topping $167 million domestic total.

This time around, the studio has slotted its tentpole against two wide-release features -- Warner Bros.' caper pic "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and 20th Century Fox's Dwayne Johnson comedy "Tooth Fairy." It wasn't clear whether the arrival of "2012" would prompt the departure of either of those pics for clearer pastures on the release schedule.

Sony executives said "2012" could have been completed by its summer date, though the new date will add time for the effects-laden production.