We’ve obviously been seeing a lot of talk online about the date move for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but most of it from the mainstream sites has just been a mention, and then moving on. Patrick Goldstein from the LA Times’ “Big Picture” actually put out some very nice and detailed analysis of the move.
So far his opinions are coming pretty close to mirroring mine. In fact, he thinks much the same way I do in that this isn’t just Battleship’s fault, you need to look further back to John Carter of Mars as well, in setting a precedent for failure that major studios are suddenly growing very skittish of.
Check out the post right here. It’s a great read.
Even better is a link at the bottom of that story to this:
Top 10 Reasons Why Paramount Moved “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” to 2013:
10) Channing Tatum was unavailable to do summer press junkets after having a series of ab transplants.
9) “Ted’s” Seth MacFarlane actually won the date from Paramount boss Brad Grey in a high-stakes poker game.
8) Test screenings revealed that audiences overwhelmingly preferred seeing Dwayne Johnson’s acting in 3-D.
7) The studio’s Oscar consultants lobbied for the move, saying Bruce Willis would have a much better shot at a supporting actor nod in 2013.
6) The studio needed more time to complete negotiations for the return of its entire allotment of G.I. Joe action toys after they were mistakenly shipped to Iran last month.
5) The United Nations informed Paramount that releasing “G.I. Joe” on the same day as Channing Tatum’s other film, the male stripper tale “Magic Mike,” would violate the Geneva Conventions’ rules on torture.
4) The studio didn’t want to overshadow the fifth-week grosses from “The Dictator.”
3) Market research determined that movies with “Joe” in the title performed far better in March than in June.
2) Dwayne Johnson felt that if the movie were delayed nine months, the press wouldn’t ask him so many questions about “Tooth Fairy.”
And the No. 1 reason why Paramount delayed the release of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”: Getting its last summer movie off the schedule lets everybody at the studio spend the whole month of July in the Hamptons.