Today we've got some bad news for anybody who was looking forward to seeing Rings next month. The third movie in The Ring franchise was slated to premiere on October 28 - right in time for Halloween - but now Paramount has revealed that they are pushing the film's release date back. This will be the third time the movie has been delayed, making the film itself more difficult to watch than the actual videotape that kills you.
According to Variety, Paramount has pushed the release date for Rings back from October 28 to the much less lucrative February 3. This is the fourth release date the film has held since its initial announcement. Rings was originally set for November 13, 2015, before getting pushed to April 1, 2016 (was this a good movie to premiere on April Fools Day?). The horror film was pushed back yet again to October 28, and now it may have found its final home this February.
Paramount gave no reason for the delay, but Variety speculates that it may have something to do with the $115 million write-down that the studio announced just yesterday on an undisclosed movie. That means that Paramount is expecting to lose money on a film - speculated to be Monster Trucks - and is changing their expectations for the fiscal quarter. Basically that's gobbledygook meaning that Paramount didn't have a great summer at the movies. Its most successful film was the great but underseen Star Trek Beyond, grossing $157 million, which isn't even a high for the series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows bowed with only $82 million, and the studio produced one of the biggest flops of the year with _Ben-Hur; _a film that grossed a scant $26 million.
While February isn't known as a successful release time (especially for horror), that trend is slowly changing thanks to Deadpool. So there might be hope for Rings yet. The film is a follow-up to 2005's The Ring Two, and introduces Matilda Lutz into the story as Julia. A lot has changed since 2005 and the videotape that kills those who watch it in seven days is now on the internet, so all your friends can finally tag you to death. Julia is only the latest to watch the video, and becomes a target of the evil spirit. With Vincent D'Onofrio's wise sage character guiding her, Julia must solve the latest mystery of The Ring.
Rings is directed by F. Javier Gutierrez and will hit theaters on February 3, 2017. Unless Paramount changes their mind again.
