Just seven weeks before it was scheduled to open in theatres, Andy and Lana Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending has been pushed back to February 6, 2015.
According to Dan Fellman, the domestic distribution chief at Warner Bros., the Wachowskis required more time to finish the film’s 2000 special effects shots.
The film, which cost $150 million to make, would be something of an oddity in February, a month usually reserved for lower budget, lower profile fare. “With the July release date, they were just not going to make it on time,” said Fellman. “A lot of the issue for us was getting it ready for the international release, since the foreign territories need additional time.”
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Fellman added that Warner Bros. had previously released The LEGO Movie in February, and it ended up making $461 million worldwide, a development which suggests that February no longer holds the stigma that it once did.
Prior to the release date change, box office forecasters predicted that Jupiter Ascending would be one of the biggest bombs of the summer. “Don’t be surprised if Jupiter Ascending winds up being the latest John Carter or Battleship,”; warned Box Office Mojo, which cited the weird make-up and accents featured in the trailer as potential turn-offs for mass audiences.
The films tells the story of a janitor (Mila Kunis) who is rescued by a genetically engineered interplanetary warrior (Channing Tatum with Spock ears) after a race of advanced aliens put a bounty on her head.
