Warner Bros. has a number of projects cooking, mostly blockbusters because that's what they're good at, but they have one that could possibly be considered an Oscar-worthy flick. That would be Ben Affleck's latest behind the camera, the long-awaited Dennis Lehane adaptation Live by Night. While a number of upcoming films have just been pushed back a number of months, Affleck's was just moved into a position that could be a major benefit during the awards season.
Live by Night has just been moved up nine months all the way to January 13th 2017. Before you say, "Hey Travis, doesn't January suck ass for movies?", just remember that American Sniper went into wide release around that same date a few years ago and snagged six Oscar nominations. Warner Bros. is probably hoping to see a similar pattern emerge. Affleck also stars in the Prohibition-era movie as Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston cop who becomes a major part of the criminal underworld. Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning, and Brendan Gleeson co-star.
Meanwhile, The Lego Movie 2 just got knocked nine months all the way down to February 8th 2019. Ouch. That can't be a good sign, even if the date is more beneficial than its previous summer date was. On the plus side you'll have two Lego movies next year in The Lego Batman Movie on February 10th and Ninjago on September 17th.
The Gerard Butler action flick Geostorm just can't seem to settle anywhere. It's been moved nine months (Yes everything was moved nine months!) to October 20th 2017 after previously being set for this fall and then next January. Maybe they're hoping after all this extra time somebody will be eager for it? The film is directed by Dean Devlin with Roland Emmerich producing, and centers on a satellite engineer who must save the world when the climate control satellites go haywire.
Finally, the comedy Bastards starring Owen Wilson and Ed Helms has been moved two months to January 27th 2017. Probably a better spot for it, to be perfectly honest. JK Simmons co-stars in the film about two brothers who are led by their mother to believe their father was killed, but when they find out differently they set off to find him. [Variety]
