Looking out at the typically dismal early year film landscape, there was one movie I was looking forward to: Ultraviolet. Maybe I'm a sucker, maybe it'll stink, but to me it looked kind of good. It was to be my fun at the movies oasis in a pile of early year crap. Well now I'm sunk.
Ultraviolet has shifted release dates. It's out of February and moved to March 31st. Frankly, that seems like a pretty bad move to me. It's old release date of February 24th put it up against a bunch of movies no one cares about like Doogal, and Madea's Family Reunion (which is technically already out on video). I guess Running Scared might have given it a run, but the weekend of February 24th was totally winnable for Ultraviolet. Now it's up against some stiff competition.
March 31st is the day that Ice Age 2, Slither, and Basic Instinct 2 (which we've just found out is being re-rated R after originally being rated NC-17) hit theaters. There's no way Ultraviolet can beat out any one of those movies, let alone all three of them.
I suppose putting their film in such a heavily contested weekend means Sony Screen Gems has a lot of confidence in it. Or maybe it means they're giving up on it and just want to bury it where no one can notice. Whatever their reasons, this move can't possibly be good for Ultraviolet.
UPDATE! -- Apparently we weren't the only ones who noticed how crowded March 31st was as a release date. A day after we ran the above story, Ultraviolet's release date has changed again. They've wised up and moved it to March 3rd, a much more easily winnable weekend in which it's only competition is the Bruce Willis thriller 16 Blocks and Aquamarine. Up against Bruce Willis, Ultraviolet may not win number one, but at least it won't get buried underneath an avalanche of other more high profile films.
For more info and images from Ultraviolet, visit our preview page
