Usually, when a studio bumps a movie's release date that is a strong sign the movie isn't, how do we say, good. However, there is a curious confluence of two movies being delayed right now, and neither are for the usual causes.
The New York Times is reporting that Paramount Vantage has pushed the release date for The Kite Runner ahead six weeks--for the safety of its cast. The movie, based on Khaled Hosseini's bestselling 2003 novel of the same name, follows an unusual friendship over the course of three decades in Afghanistan. Fears of violence against the filmmakers and its three child actors due to the film's subject matter have prompted the studio to push the date to December 14 so that the boys can get out of Kabul (possibly permanently) once school is out--for their own safety.
And Universal has pushed George Clooney's period football movie, Leatherheads, to April 4. Clooney, who directs and stars in the movie, needs the additional time because of his busy schedule, says Variety. Whether or not his recent motorcycle accident prompted the date change is unknown.
Leatherheads was originally slated to open on December 7, which would have allowed it to pick up momentum from the Oscar buzz garnered by Clooney's current movie, Michael Clayton, which opens today. Now that it is opening in April, however, it would not make the deadline for this year's competition. Poor George.