Rise of the Apes' Pushed Back to November, 'Penguins' in Summer

Rise of the Apes' Pushed Back to November, 'Penguins' in Summe

Briefly: 20th Century Fox is re-arranging their 2011 release schedule, as is the custom once execs meet at the beginning of the year and discuss the status of their films. The biggest change is a delay for Rise of the Apes, directed by Rupert Wyatt, starring James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, which was pushed from June 24th this summer until November 23rd, Thanksgiving week. Considering we haven't seen anything from it yet and its marketing is highly dependent on Weta finishing photo-realistic rendering of CGI apes, a delay is understandable and acceptable, because I want it to turn out the best it possibly can. More below!

Hollywood Reporter announces a few other major Fox date changes. Mr. Popper's Penguins, directed by Mark Waters and starring Jim Carrey, which we just featured photos for, has moved up from August 12th to June 17th to fill their summer slots. David Gordon Green's The Sitter, starring Jonah Hill, was pushed up to June 24th; Thomas Bezucha's Monte Carlo with Leighton Meester and Selena Gomez opens July 1st; New Regency's What's Your Number? with Anna Faris moves from April 29 to September 30th; David Frankel's The Big Year, with Jack Black and Steve Martin, will now open October 14th. Solid fall line-up.

The only other big change was Gattaca director Andrew Niccol's Now (formerly I'm.mortal), with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, which moved from its original date of September 30th to October 28th, which seems like an interesting change considering that means it's opening Halloween weekend up against other horror films (like Dibbuk Box) and as far as I know it's not horror, it's a sci-fi thriller. Do they really think it'll perform well on Halloween? That's actually one of this year's sci-fi movies that I'm really excited for. Anyway, those are the only updates, but always check the full 2011 Release Schedule for the latest.