The Great Gatsby has been bumped to the summer of 2013

Despite having every indication of prime Academy Award-friendly material and aesthetic, Baz Luhrmann’s 3D Jazz Age Extravaganza has been pushed out of its Christmas Day release date and into the warmer climes of summer 2013.

The move does, admittedly, take it out of direct competition with DJANGO UNCHAINED and indirect competition with THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPEXTED JOURNEY, ZERO DARK THIRTY, LES MISERABLES and HYDE PARK ON HUDSON.  The thinking may then be that there’s better box office potential next summer as there is no movie quite like THE GREAT GATSBY set to release, but to be fair there’s never a movie quite like a Baz Luhrmann movie.

Here’s a statement from Director of Domestic Distribution Dan Fellman: “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.”

And here’s a statement from President of International Distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg: “Baz is known for being innovative, but with this film he has done something completely unexpected—making it in 3D—while capturing the emotion, the intimacy, the power and the spectacle of the time. 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.”

And becuase why not, here’s a plot recap: THE GREAT GATSBY follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and herphilandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.