THINK PINK
√¨The Pink Panther” is back on the summer sked, set for an Aug. 5 bow.
First dated for July 22, late last year MGM pushed the remake’s release back to Sept. 23. Move to return it to summer comes just as MGM’s acquisition by Sony closes today.
“We looked at the picture again, and it screened very well,” MGM distrib prexy Erik Lomis said. “We saw an opportunity to get it back into the summer where all age groups are available seven days a week, so we took it.”
After “The Amityville Horror” bows on April 15, all remaining MGM titles waiting for release, including “Pink Panther,” will be distribbed by Sony.
Also on the sked for Aug. 5 are Warner Bros.’ “The Dukes of Hazzard,” Universal’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s vidgame adaptation “Doom,” and an as-yet-untitled Mike Judge laffer starring Luke Wilson as the smartest man in a stupid future.
Moving out of the way this past week was DreamWorks’, which pushed its thriller “Red Eye” back two weeks to Aug. 19. New Line also moved Tony Scott’s Keira Knightley thriller “Domino” onto the date and Fox Searchlight announced it would unspool “Supercross” there, making for perhaps the most crowded berth of the summer.
In addition to those three new arrivals to the slot, three other wide releases were already skedded there, including Universal’s “The 40 Year-old Virgin,” Disney’s toon “Valiant” and Sony’s horror pic “The Cave.” If Miramax’s martial arts pic “Zu Warriors” goes out wide, that would mean seven wide releases on the same weekend.
It’s a sure bet that some, if not most, of these pics will eventually find other launch pads.
While MGM’s “Panther” moved back into the summer, the studio’s “Into the Blue” dropped out. Paul Walker treasure-hunting pic was set for July 15 but is now set for release on Sept. 30.
Universal’s Hilary Duff starrer “The Perfect Man” moved up from July 22 to June 17. That would set it up as counter programming against Warners’ “Batman Begins,” which is the only other wide release for that week.
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