The Great Gatsby

[Foggy]

Moved to Summer 2013

Source: RoS

One of the films considered by most to be a potential Best Picture contender this coming awards season was Baz Luhrmann's 3-D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. Originally set to do battle over the Christmas holiday serving as counter-programming to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, the film also looked to have solid box-office prospects. Well, maybe those prospects are still intact, but the release date isn't.

Via a press release, Warner Bros. announced they are moving the film from Christmas Day 2012 to an unspecified Summer 2013 release.

Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, was quoted in the release saying, "Based on what we've seen, Baz Luhrmann's incredible work is all we anticipated and so much more. It truly brings Fitzgerald's American classic to life in a completely immersive, visually stunning and exciting way. We think moviegoers of all ages are going to embrace it, and it makes sense to ensure this unique film reaches the largest audience possible."

Of course, they are going to say anything at this point to make sure the move doesn't reflect badly on the film. That said, a move from the holiday season to Summer actually isn't a bad sign, it is a sign that it might not have done as well at the Oscars as they may have originally thought and it may be more of a crowd-pleaser instead. No problem there.

Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of WB's International Distribution, added, "The responses we've had to some of the early sneak peeks have been phenomenal, and we think The Great Gatsby will be the perfect summer movie around the world."

So, there you have it, Christmas Day now only has two films listed with Tarantino's Django and Anne Fletcher's The Guilt Trip starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen.

Great Gatsby is the second WB film moved out of 2012 as of late, after Gangster Squad was moved from September 7 to January 11 as a result of the Aurora shooting during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises as a theater shooting in the film was going to be reshot out of respect to the victims and their families.

[Snicket]

Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This blows!

[thelittleprince]

Wow! Was looking forward to this. The 3D looked awesome. I guess I'll just have to wait another year to see it.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Moved to Summer 2013

That's not surprising, given that it was originally intended for after Christmas week--
Y'see, if you want to open a family film on Christmas Day, it's because you're trying to hit the largest parent audience during school vacation week.
HOWEVER, if you open an adult-themed film after Christmas Day and before New Year's, it's because you're a studio literally trying to "bury" the movie in the one "invisible" week that most critics are on vacation, and you're hoping to get at least one weekend in to recoup your losses before word of mouth spreads.

...Think we know by now which category Warner is putting this movie into.
And given the rule of shuffled pushback movies, I'm guessing "Summer '13" means, oh, August? (What, no February?)

Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, was quoted in the release saying, "Based on what we've seen, Baz Luhrmann's incredible work is all we anticipated and so much more We think moviegoers of all ages are going to embrace it, and it makes sense to ensure this unique film reaches the largest audience possible."
Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of WB's International Distribution, added, "The responses we've had to some of the early sneak peeks have been phenomenal, and we think The Great Gatsby will be the perfect summer movie around the world."

Of course, they are going to say anything at this point to make sure the move doesn't reflect badly on the film.

(Umm, yeah. I was sort of getting that impression. )

[spanky87]

Whoa. From oscar season to summer blockbuster season? Man, I was so ready for a DiCaprio double bill at the theater on Christmas day.

[djgeneral]

Bummer.

[toddly6666]

Is this the year of the movie delay? The movie must suck.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Is this the year of the movie delay? The movie must suck.

Yyyeah....That's becoming an increasingly distinct possibility.

(It's not true that "In Hollywood, you're only as good as your last film", since Luhrmann's still got one left on his free-ride ticket from "Moulin Rouge"--Not counting the one we retroactively gave him for "Romeo + Juliet". If he WAS as good as his last film, that would be Razzie favorite "Australia".
The dopey misinterpretation of "Why did Nick hang around Jay Gatsby so much?" has already been discussed at length; I leave you to consider how that's going to handled by Baz's talent for turning million-dollar spectaculars into three-dollar ones... )

[Rinzler]

I was thinking it wasn't going to be perfect after the trailers (yes, it's pretty), but some casting missteps, among other things are making me think it won't be good.