Sorry, party's postponed!
As the title says, Warner Brothers has decided to move Baz Luhrmann’s adaptaton of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” from Christmas 2012 to an unspecified summer 2012 date. Leonardo DiCaprio stars, with Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton also in the cast.
Speculation has been running wild over why they’re moving it, with “it’s a disaster” and “it’s not awards season material” being everyone’s favorite reasons. These certainly may be true–I haven’t seen it so I don’t know–but it could be something just more practical like December is too crowded this year. It would have to compete with “Les Miserables,” “Django Unchained,” “The Life of Pi,” and WB’s own “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” I’m especially curious about the role of that last one in this decision: both “The Hobbit” and “Gatsby” are 3D; does WB want to the push sure to be a hit “Hobbit” out of 3D theaters just to make room for “Gatsby” (which shouldn’t be 3D anyway, but that’s another story)? I doubt it.
Here’s the official press release for this story:
BURBANK, CA, August 6, 2012 – Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures have moved the release date of “The Great Gatsby” to Summer 2013. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
In making the announcement, Fellman stated, “Based on what we’ve seen, Baz Luhrmann’s incredible work is all we anticipated and so much more. It truly brings Fitzgerald’s American classic to life in a completely immersive, visually stunning and exciting way. We think moviegoers of all ages are going to embrace it, and it makes sense to ensure this unique film reaches the largest audience possible.”
Kwan Vandenberg confirmed, “Baz is known for being innovative, but with this film he has done something completely unexpected—making it in 3D—while capturing the emotion, the intimacy, the power and the spectacle of the time. The responses we’ve had to some of the early sneak peeks have been phenomenal, and we think ‘The Great Gatsby’ will be the perfect summer movie around the world.”From the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann comes the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The filmmaker has created his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before, in a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role.
