When JUPITER ASCENDING made the move from this summer to next February, many were baffled that a movie opening in mere weeks would get such a dramatic shift in release. The last time we saw a change this sudden was when G.I. JOE: RETALIATION moved about the same amount of time for a post conversion to 3D. This time, JUPITER ASCENDING was pushed due to editing and VFX needs. But, is that the real reason?
Thompson on Hollywood ventures to guess that the actual reason Warner Bros made the move was a financial one. With the $178 million EDGE OF TOMORROW tracking poorly leading to this past weekend’s lackluster debut, the studio could not afford to release two bombs in the same season. The Wachowskis are no longer the guarantee hitmakers they were during the heyday of THE MATRIX trilogy. With CLOUD ATLAS the latest film of theirs to underperform, the studio could not risk JUPITER ASCENDING from bombing during the high profile blockbuster season.
While CLOUD ATLAS and EDGE OF TOMORROW are both high concept films that have a dedicated fan base, both films did not make back their production budget. While EDGE OF TOMORROW just opened, it has the nearly insurmountable task of making back it’s budget domestically. Internationally, it may make enough, but studios still bank on North American grosses for their numbers. Unfortunately, quality films do not always make the money needed to justify their creation, which is a damn shame.
JUPITER ASCENDING will now hit theaters on February 6, 2015 where it should stand a much better chance of opening big.