Well, here's an interesting change up to Warner Bros. fall calendar, and one that is sure to get people talking…The studio has moved Ben Affleck's "Argo" to October 12th, taking the date previously assigned to "Gangster Squad," leaving the ensemble crime flick without a date at the moment. Both films boast massive, marquee-worthy casts but it seems WB is making a solid awards season move with Affleck's pic.
Originally slated to open in a similar frame to "The Town" on September 14th, the move indicates that the studio may have something more than just a crowd pleaser on their hands. The film centers on the real-life C.I.A. plan to rescue a group of diplomats from Tehran after the 1979 Iranian revolution by claiming that they were part of a Hollywood movie crew shooting a film. The actor/director has rounded up a helluva cast for this one that includes himself along with folks like Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Scoot McNairy and Kyle Chandler with Taylor Schilling, Nelson Franklin, Tate Donovan, Chris Messina, Michael Parks and Richard Kind featured in the cast.
As for Ruben Fleischer's "Gansgster Squad" — which features no less of a starry cast in Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Emma Stone and Sean Penn — the studio apparently still plan to release the picture in 2012, though it's now being determined just where it will slot in. It seems they've already decided it won't replace "Argo" in September (and the studio has "Trouble With The Curve" coming just a couple weeks later the same month), and the rest of the year is pretty crowded as well with "Gravity" in November and the double whammy of "The Hobbit" and "The Great Gatsby" in December. Looks like we'll need to stay tuned on this one, and just where the tale of gangster Mickey Cohen and the efforts to bring him down will land.
Finally, Paramount has shifted gears slightly on Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator" moving the film back five days to Wednesday, May 16th to get out of the way of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's "Dark Shadows," which lands on May 11th. [Variety/Deadline]
