UPDATE Paramount has sent out an official statement saying, "G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, previously scheduled for June 29, 2012, will now open in 3D on March 29, 2013 (wide)." In related news, Universal has moved the Seth MacFarlane comedy Ted from July 13th to June 29th, taking G.I. Joe's place.
After Paramount decided to bring on Jon Chu to direct G.I. Joe: Retaliation, it was a bit strange that they announced the movie would be in 2D. After all, Chu is best known for having directed both Step Up 3D and Never Say Never, the 3D Justin Bieber concert documentary. Still, we shrugged it off because we here at Cinema Blend always prefer 2D films. But now something very strange is happening.
Deadline is reporting that G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been pushed from June 29th of this year all the way back to March 29, 2013 - a nine-month schedule shift. During that time, the sequel will be post-converted to 3D, a studio exec quoted saying. "We’re going to do a conscientious 3D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally. Jim Cameron did all of Titanic‘s 3D in post – and look how well that movie turned out." In the June 29th spot, the action film had smaller competition in People Like Us, Magic Mike and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection, but its opening was only five days before the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and one week after Pixar's Brave and Fox's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The film will now open against Stephenie Meyer's The Host and Tyler Perry's Tyler Perry's The Marriage Counselor.
What's interesting about this move is that it's not the first time Paramount has made such a radical shift this year. Back in January the studio decided to push Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters March 2, 2012 to January 11, 2013. Rumor has it that particular schedule change was due to the fact that Hansel and Gretel was a terrible movie. Let's hope the same isn't true for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
