Jupiter Ascending Hears Death Knell, Delayed Until February 2015

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

jupiterThere are two ways to look at everything. The glass of whisk…water is either half-full or half-empty, depending on what kind of a person you are. I expect two different kinds of people to run the comments on this, just as with every other time this movie comes up. The Wachowskis’ giant space flick Jupiter Ascending was removed from its July 18 release date and has been pushed back until February 6, 2015. Because nothing says giant blockbuster like cold, slushy, shitty weather.

According to THR insiders, Jupiter Ascending was postponed because more special effects work was needed. One type of person will think to themselves, “Hey, cool. They’re making the movie better,” while the other type will consider it a sign of failure. It’s more likely that Warner Bros. is tugging at their collars and inching back, given the low-earning Sandler/Barrymore rom-com Blended and Edge of Tomorrow‘s lack of buzz going into its release this weekend. Not that they’ve been marketing this movie much further than trailer releases, although this is admittedly a tough pic to nail down with a fast food tie-in or a viral website. But you can’t really sell a summer tentpole based on big stories anymore. It’s truly a sad time.

So that’s the delay itself; how about that new release date? It’s true that movies can definitely make money in February, especially this year. (Go Lego Movie!) But despite that awesome animated exception, the first two months of the year have long been dumping grounds for movies that studios have a lack of faith in. They’re hung out to dry. One kind of person will completely and harshly judge Jupiter Ascending based on this and nothing else. The other kind will be happy for more sci-fi to start the year off, with the similarly delayed Project Almanac coming out the week before.

Warners will be moving the Jaume Collet-Serra thriller Run All Night to a different date, so Liam Neeson will be kicking people’s asses presumably a little later in the year. On February 6, Jupiter Ascending will now be facing off against Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore in Sergey Bodrov’s CGI-heavy fantasy Seventh Son, and David Koepp’s ensemble action comedy Mortedcai, which stars Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Aubrey Plaza, Jeff Goldblum, and Olivia Munn.

jupiter ascending
“Muuuuuuuuunn!”

July 18 is already a busy day for wide releases, and I’m sure Sex Tape, Planes: Fire and Rescue, and The Purge: Anarchy will be happy to lose the competition. It’s unclear at this point if anything else will be moving into that vacated spot.

Jupiter Ascending stars Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis as an alien/wolf/albino hybrid super badass and a lowly cleaning woman who is discovered to share a perfect genetic code with the Queen of the Universe, who wants her dead. I’ll let you decide if those descriptions are respective or not. Check out the latest Jupiter Ascending trailer below.

So, just in case you weren’t paying attention to anything said above, Jupiter Ascending will remind you that it exists when it comes out in theaters on February 6, 2015. For those wondering where I stand on it all, I’m still really, really looking forward to this ridiculousness, and I’m bummed that I have to wait even longer to relish in it. Now what about you?