"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" will have to wait another nine months to seek retribution. This week, in a shocking move, Paramount bumped the summer blockbuster off its June 29 release date and moved it to March 29, 2013.
Per studio insiders, the change was done to give director Jon Chu time to convert "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" into 3D, a decision that could pay off if it drives overseas ticket buyers to cinemas next year. (3D, while an increasingly frowned-upon fad in the U.S., is still big abroad.) According to star Dwayne Johnson, new scenes are being "designed" to "enhance" the 3D. It's a whole new "G.I. Joe" world -- one that could affect the fate of many other movies.
Ahead, four films that could reap the benefits of "G.I. Joe 2" moving to 2013.
"Ted" should make more moneyAbout five hours after "Joe" was moved, Universal dropped Seth MacFarlane's R-rated comedy "Ted" to June 29. Originally scheduled for July 13, the Mark Wahlberg-led film will now go up against "Magic Mike," "People Like Us" and "Tyler Perry's Witness Protection." Crowded, but not nearly as dire as things potentially were for "Ted" on July 13, where it was flanked by "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "The Dark Knight Rises" (out July 3, 8 and 20, respectively). MacFarlane's "Ted" -- about a pot-smoking and foul-mouthed teddybear come to life -- could have been lost among three potential $1 billion global grossers; on June 29, it'll have the chance to attract a similar audience to "G.I. Joe" and find box-office footing.
"The Amazing Spider-Man" should make more moneyNot that "Ted" was going to keep people away from "The Amazing Spider-Man," but now Spidey has even fewer competitors between itself and "The Dark Knight Rises." For a movie that has been on the receiving end of some disinterested buzz, the smaller the amount of opponents, the better potential for long-term ticket sales.
"The Watch" should make more moneyFrom June 29, when "Ted" comes out, to July 27, when "The Watch" (formerly titled "Neighborhood Watch") arrives, a grand total of zero adult comedies arrive in theaters. That's a good thing for the Ben Stiller feature, which won't ask R-rated comedy fans for their hard-earned dollars just two weeks after "Ted" would have done the same thing.
"G.I. Joe Retaliation" should make more moneyDon't laugh. Despite being banished to March of 2013, "G.I. Joe" is still in pretty good shape. For starters, the month is actually soft on releases -- there's no "Hunger Games" looming to dominate the frame. The films on the March schedule include "Oz: The Great and Powerful" (hoping to get "Alice in Wonderland" dollars), the bumped-from-summer-2012 "Jack the Giant Killer," the potentially hard-to-sell "Elysium" with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, the "Percy Jackson" sequel you didn't want, and the YA adaptation "The Host." Are any of those movies guaranteed blockbusters? (Here's some help: Nope!) Meanwhile, The Rock has recent and relevant experience opening movies in the first quarter of the year; he was able to push "Journey 2: Mysterious Island" to over $324 million worldwide after its release in February. Couldn't he do it again with a known property like "G.I. Joe," in 3D? He can. After all, this is The Rock we're talking about, not Taylor Kitsch.
