Fox has done a release date switcheroo for a couple of their upcoming films. THE MARTIAN was originally slated to be released Thanksgiving week, but will now hit theaters on October 2, while Paul McGuigan's VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe has moved from that date, and will take the Ridley Scott film's old slot on November 25.
Pushing VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN out of October could hurt the film's box office potential, however Fox probably has very high hopes for THE MARTIAN, especially with how well the first trailer was received. The big screen adaptation of the Andy Weir novel will still face some heavy competition at the box office since Robert Zemeckis' THE WALK, LONDON HAS FALLEN, and John Wells' ADAM JONES starring Bradley Cooper are also set to be released on October 2.
But the film will avoid the second weekend of THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 with the move, which will still be bringing in major coin, even if it does plummet in its sophomore outing. VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN will instead have to deal with the final Hunger Games, and will also open against Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Christmas movie, the ROCKY spinoff CREED, Pixar's THE GOOD DINOSAUR, and Jeff Nichols' MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.