Time to play the Release Date Shuffle. Several films have moved their dates into 2014 while others have slid into new dates to accomodate the shifts. First up is THE MONUMENTS MEN which we just learned would be moving to next year due to FX issues in post-production.
THE MONUMENTS MEN confirmed today that it will now be releasing on February 7, 2014 from the original December 18th, 2014 date. That December date will now be home to the wide release of David O. Russell‘s AMERICAN HUSTLE, another Oscar hopeful. George Clooney‘s film was all the talk the last couple of days with some saying the shift was tone related to which Clooney clarified it was related to a special effects delay. With THE MONUMENTS MEN hitting in February, ROBOCOP is shifting to February 12, 2014 so as to not go directly against Clooney’s movie.
The other big shift is JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT. Previously set for a December 25, 2013 release, the Kenneth Branagh reboot is now moving to January 17, 2014. This move was rumored after Martin Scorsese‘s THE WOLF OF WALL STREET ran into some editing issues and was itself possibly moving to 2014. With Scorsese’s film the more likely Oscar contender, the studio was likely hoping to keep it in the running and having JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT move could open that Christmas slot for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.
This December was getting pretty crowded with movies and was looking to be one of the best winters for audiences in quite a long time. But, from a business standpoint, it was not going to let numerous movies make the money they should. The normally dead months of January and February just heated up by getting some quality films into theaters.