Universal must think they have a hot, hot property in Don Winslow's
Savages. Mike Fleming reports in Deadline the studio has switched the planned September release to the sizzling summer season. The new release date is July 6, just days after Sony opens
The Amazing Spider-Man on July 4 and quickly followed by Fox’s
Ice Age sequel and Universal-distributed Seth MacFarlane-directed comedy
Ted on July 13th and
The Dark Knight Rises on July 17.
That's a lot of MEGA competition! Not a lot of time and space to make a dent; is Universal's confidence warranted? To compete with huge franchises like Spider Man and Batman, I would have thought you'd need mega stars which none of the stars involved is. Sorry, John Travolta, you used to be that kind of A-lister but not anymore. Is Oliver Stone as director enough or perhaps the material is really that enticing. I haven't read Winslow's best seller yet. Let me know if you have!
Perhaps the recently released picture of Benicio del Toro blowing pot smoke in Blake Lively's face will create a big enough buzz to keep interest burning until summer!?
"Scripted by Shane Salerno & Winslow & Stone, the film focuses on Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), two pot growers who refuse to knuckle under to a Mexican cartel and then have to find a way out after the cartel kidnaps the free-spirited girl they share (Blake Lively), who’ll be killed if the pot growers don’t capitulate and pay a huge ransom. They do it by ripping off the cartel’s shipments, a most dangerous game. The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, freshly Oscar-nominated Demian Bichir, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch,
Twilight Saga‘s Mia Maestro and Salma Hayek."
Simon & Schuster recently announced it would publish a prequel novel by Winslow to coincide with the film’s fall release. It's not known if the publisher will move that prequel publication date to summer too.
