Oliver Stone's sequel to his critically acclaimed film Wall Street, is now being pushed by Fox from its original April 23rd release date all the way til September 24th.
Via: The Hollywood Reporter
No official word has been released on the "why?" Money Never Sleeps was pushed back five months. The April release date pitted the sequel up against MacGruber and The Back-up Plan; much easier competition than the films to be released on the new planned fall debut in September.
The new opposition is Zack Synder (Watchmen) and his owl narrative Legend of the Guardians and You Again which stars Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Also being released that weekend is Kevin Macdonald's (State of Play, Last King of Scotland) adaption of the 1954 historical adventure Eagle of the Ninth.
Eagle of the Ninth is set in the second century and follows a young Roman officer's search to discover the truth about the unexplained disappearance of his father's legion in the north of Britain. The story is based on the legend of the Ninth Legion. Intriguing? Yes.
Unfortunately the film stars Channing Tatum (how does he continue to get leading roles?) as the film's lead character Marcus Aquila. That could equal disaster already. The rest of the casting decisions are pretty strong with Jamie Bell, Mark Strong, and Donald Sutherland rounding out the bill.
Anyway, back to the Money Never Sleeps date change. I thought it was necessary to go into the details of the other film's this movie is now up against because the logistics of the decision don't seem to make sense competition-wise. MacGruber, while a popular SNL skit, most likely would not take box office receipts away from the grandeur of an Oliver Stone project; though both films have similar target audiences.
The Back-up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez: is that even considered competition? Kick-Ass is being released the week before April 23rd, and Iron Man two weeks after, so that could affect box office earnings for MNS. The September movies that Money Never Sleeps will have to contend with are not similar genres, but in my opinion seem like more competitive projects than MacGruber and The Back-up Plan.
Seeing the the two first Money Never Sleeps trailers (seen here, and here) I was pumped to see what Oliver Stone had in store for the legendary but fallen Wall Street connoisseur Gordon Gekko. Throw Carey Mulligan into the mix as Gekko's daughter and Shia LaBeouf as Mulligan's boyfriend/understudy to Gekko, and you have yourself a movie filled with drama. Not even mentioned are Frank Langella and the film's antagonist, the great Josh Brolin.
The decision seems based around Fox Studios and Stone gambling that the film will get into the Cannes Film Festival, a move directly related to the film being released closer to awards season. The competition for summer films is already lively, not to mention the world spending more time watching fútbol this summer than visiting the theater (notice I said world, not United States).
Stone also has been said to want to cut down the running time of the project with some edits, so the changed date works in that regard as well. Despite there being no official announcement discussing the reason for the date change, the surrounding details seem pretty clear on why Fox and Stone collaborated on the decision to push back a movie that I consider a must see of 2010. But will it be award worthy?
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