A couple of notable release dates on the move today for 20th Century Fox. First to make a shift is the “Planet Of The Apes” reboot “Rise Of The Apes” with James Franco and Freida Pinto which will now be released on August 5th. The film has already switched release dates twice but the new spot will make it the “last big event movie of the summer” according to 20th Century Fox’s Twitter account. It had originally been scheduled for June 24th and was then pushed back just two months ago to a Thanksgiving weekend release on November 23rd; now it’s been moved back closer to it’s original summer bow.
Directed by relative newcomer Rupert Wyatt, the film finds Franco and Pinto, joined by John Lithgow, Andy Serkis and Brian Cox in an origin story that chronicles the engineering feat that advanced the intelligence in apes and sets off the war for species supremacy. Franco, Lithgow and Pinto play scientists who will try to stop the ape revolt led by Serkis, playing the lead ape via motion capture. The release date move doesn’t completely surprise us as ‘Apes’ isn’t exactly “Iron Man” or “Lord of the Rings,” so a late summer release probably makes sense for this offbeat tentpole.
Also on the move is David Gordon Green‘s second film of 2011, (the first being the forthcoming Franco starring “Your Highness“), “The Sitter” starring Jonah Hill and Sam Rockwell. According to Variety, the R-rated comedy will now be released on December 9th as complete awards season counter-programming. This is also that film’s third release date in as many months. It started out with a July 15th date, was moved back to August 5th but has now been bumped to the end of the year to stay out of the way of ‘Apes.’
The film stars Hill as a college student who ends up on a wild night after agreeing to babysit the three kids next door. He’s joined by a solid supporting cast including “Where The Wild Things Are” star Max Records, Ari Graynor, J.B. Smoove and the aforementioned Rockwell as a drug dealer tracking down Hill after he loses their cocaine. We read the script and it’s quite funny but it looks like we’ll have to wait just a bit longer to see the film.
