Barbie moves to 2020, and more films get new release dates from Sony Pictures
The upcoming Barbie film is moving to 2020, which is just part of the release date news from Sony Pictures. The original date for the film was August 8, 2018, but Barbie, which stars Anne Hathaway, will now hit theaters almost two years later on May 8, 2020. At the moment, there are no other films on that date, but there is an untitled Marvel film opening the week before.
The Barbie movie screenplay arrives from Hilary Winston (The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the Bad Teacher TV series) with Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele having done a rewrite. Oscar winner Diablo Cody was also working on the screenplay at the studio back in 2015. Winston’s script is said to follow a misfit living in a land of perfect Barbies, who comes to the real world where her being/looking different turns into an asset. The film has been described as being a contemporary spin on beauty, feminism and identity in the comedic fantasy vein of Splash, Enchanted or Big. Barbie is being produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Amy Pascal.
Two films have been given official release dates. The remake of Superfly (one word, not two words this time) will be released on June 15, 2018. The film has Watchmen writer Alex Tse on script duty. Director X is helming the new movie. Super Fly was directed by Gordon Parks Jr. (His father, Gordon Parks, directed the classic Shaft, which has a new film version in progress with Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Roundtree, Alexandra Shipp and Jesse T. Usher.)
Superfly will be produced by Joel Silver and Sony executive Palak Patel reportedly took the lead in buying the rights to the film. Hip-hop star Future will produce as well, with Steven R. Shore, who is the son of Sig Shore on to executive produce with Matthew Hirsch, Hal Sadoff and Aaron Ausch. The film will open opposite Incredibles 2, Tag, On Chesil Beach and untitled Universal film.
The Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced Sony Pictures Animation Movie has been set for February 7, 2020, which sets it opposite Suicide Squad 2. Cadaver follows a disgraced ex-cop/recovering addict (Mitchell) as she takes a graveyard shift position at the same hospital she got sober. Not long after taking the job a brutally murdered corpse is delivered to the morgue and she begins witnessing a series of murders, all leading up to a confrontation with an evil entity. This film is now TBD.
In other horror news Slender Man, is moving from May 18 of this year to later in the summer on August 24. In a small town in Massachusetts, four high school girls perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the lore of Slender Man. When one of the girls goes mysteriously missing, they begin to suspect that she is, in fact, HIS latest victim. The film is taking the place of Cadaver and has no other films to compete against at this time.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web starring Claire Foy is moving from October 19 of this year to November 9, putting it up against Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It is replacing Holmes and Watson, which is moving to December 21. The Girl in the Spider’s Web will be the first in the best-selling series to be produced into an English-language film in its initial adaptation. The previous books in the series have been adapted into Swedish-language films, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a remake of the Swedish film. It became a global hit for Columbia Pictures, taking in over $230 million worldwide.
Holmes and Watson was originally set for November 9 and, with its new date of December 21, it’s up against Bumblebee and Aquaman. The film stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Hugh Laurie and Ralph Fiennes. Ferrell will play the 21B Baker Street sleuth, and Reilly will play Dr. Watson.
What do you think of the new Sony release dates? Let us know in the comments.