Major movies’ release delayed

July 9, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Ben Fritz

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

Four of Hollywood’s biggest 2012 movies are on hold until 2013.

Delayed and missing their dates at the box office are the sequel “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” the zombie apocalypse tale “World War Z,” the fairy-tale adaptation “Jack the Giant Killer” and the samurai epic “47 Ronin.”

“Ronin,” which stars Keanu Reeves, has been delayed four months. “Jack,” directed by Bryan Singer, was pushed back nine months. “G.I. Joe” was knocked off its release date just five weeks before its scheduled opening. “World War Z” got rescheduled six months ahead of its original release date.

Each of the four films had its own unique set of problems. But together they illustrate the unintended side-effect of their studios’ desire to claim the most profitable release dates, often before there is even a completed script — the movie-making equivalent of sending out birth announcements before you’ve managed to get pregnant.

“World War Z” and “Ronin” are both complex pictures with budgets of about $170 million.

Conflicts on the sets of both movies caused their studios to bail on their original release dates and led to plans for reshoots in the fall, according to knowledgeable people who were not authorized to speak publicly.

“World War Z’s” production was beset by creative and business differences among such key players as star and producer Brad Pitt, director Marc Forster and an array of producers and executives from four financiers backing the picture.

Their principal source of anxiety was the ending of the film shot by Forster. Dissatisfied with the result, Paramount now has “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof writing a new conclusion and a new release date of June 21, 2013.

Similarly, Universal had difficulties with its first-time feature director Carl Rinsch, and now plans to reshoot the ending and other sequences of “47 Ronin.” The new filming is designed to beef up star Reeves’ character and make the movie less of an ensemble piece.

Last-minute date changes are not uncommon in Hollywood. But four big pictures being pushed into a new year — so far — may be a new record.

Making post-production changes on a modern big-budget movie are complicated and costly. Studios not only need to reunite cast and crew who have moved onto other projects but also have to get special-effects houses to re-create their work on a fast schedule and often at a premium price.