Deadline report recently that Warner Bros. has decided to delay Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity, which was previously scheduled for November 21, but now has an unspecified 2013 release date.
The Deadline write-up says:
Warner Bros already has a full plate in the fourth quarter — Argo, Gangster Squad, The Hobbit and The Great Gatsby among its titles — so it’s possible the studio wanted to give the Alfonso Cuaron drama some extra breathing room, especially since it will need IMAX’s 3D screens, which are in short supply.
While Deadline is merely speculating and the reason for delay could be any number of reasons, I found it interesting a lack of IMAX 3D screens would be one of the first possibilities Deadline would turn to. While I have no problem with studios now establishing year-round release dates for quality cinema, if IMAX screens were indeed the reason for the delay it just goes to show how important both IMAX and 3D have become at the box-office. It’s an importance that could prove costly if the future of cinema is to depend on them to this degree.
While my first instinct is to always presume the studio didn’t find it financially viable to release the film this November, the argument could be made the film just wasn’t going to be the Oscar contender Warner Bros. thought it may be or it needed more work. To that point, this release change comes after word of mouth began circulating online from several people who attended Gravity test screenings recently.
Buzz from those screenings (as compiled by Slashfilm) were across the board with some calling it a “masterpiece” despite the fact it was unfinished and another calling it, “Worst movie ever!” Yes, these are the people the studio shows their movies to before the film-loving audience gets to see them.
Personally, this delay scares me, not over out of concern for Gravity‘s quality, but for the state of film in general. If the hunt for IMAX 3D screens has become so important that studios are now willing to delay films as a result that is bothersome because what happens once that well dries up also? Will we go from seeing films on the largest screens possible to seeing those same films at home on our TV? Will they be made at all?
While the door is open that the IMAX/3D thing is not at all the problem it’s clearly something on the minds of Hollywood if it can be brought up this easily.
In other release date news, Warner Bros. finally settled on a September 7 release date for Gangster Squad and the Weinstein Co. bumped Lawless two days from August 31 to August 29.
