Release Date Changes: Miss Pettigrew Lives In March

By Katey Rich

Normally on Fridays I go through the list of release date changes, but hey, last Friday I was picking at leftovers, like most of America. So here we are today looking at a big list of movies and when they will finally be coming at us. Unlike in the last few weeks, there's actually a few notable changes and announcements to discuss.

Adams' star is on the rise.

DreamWorks has picked an awards season-savvy release date for Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, putting it out on March 7, 2008, only a few weeks after the Oscars, where its star Amy Adams may be getting some attention. Adams stars as an American actress and singer who hires a dowdy former governess (Frances McDormand) as her assistant during her world travels. The tale, described as a "Cinderella story", is based on a book written in 1938 by Winifred Watson. After Adams' exceptional performance in the box-office smash Enchanted, audiences will likely again be thrilled by her role as a glamorous, presumably kind-hearted woman. Pettigrew doesn't sound like the same kind of wide audience catnip that Enchanted is, but given that critics were just as charmed by Adams as the target audience of eight-year-olds was, there will likely be plenty of art-house types ready to fall in love with Adams all over again.

It's already been widely reported in the trades that Angels and Demons, the Ron Howard-directed followup to The Da Vinci Code, has been delayed thanks to the writers' strike. Initial reports said that Akiva Goldsman had turned in his screenplay ahead of the deadline, but according to The Hollywood Reporter the script isn't ready for filming, and can't be worked on until the strike is finished. Sony is showing great restraint in postponing their likely cash cow, since you can imagine the amount of money and talent that could be wasted with a shoddy script. Still, this is yet more evidence that many of those rushed-to-completion projects may be riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies.If a screenwriter like Goldsman, with a huge number of hits and even an Oscar to his name, can turn in a rush job, just imagine what we might actually see from less-experienced writers with less money riding on their work.

America's next action star?

A few other big releases finally had dates set, including Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones set for March 13, 2009 and G.I. Joe, based on the action figures, dropping on August 7 of that year. The Taking of the Pelham One, Two, Three, an action remake starring Denzel Washington, perhaps shifted its date in response to G.I. Joe, and switched from August 7, 2009 to July 31, giving it a week to play before the "Real American Hero" tries to replicate Transformers' success. Coming much earlier will be Marley & Me, a comedy starrring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, based on the best-selling book about a man and a misbehaving dog. The fast-approaching release date presumably means they've set shooting dates for the project, which was on hold while Wilson recuperated from his much-publicized suicide attempt. The late-December release indicates the studio thinks they might have something special on their hands, though a movie with bankable stars based on a best-seller isn't exactly a gamble.

And finally, two releases intended for this weekend have been pushed to next spring: Flawless, a caper comedy starring Demi Moore and Michael Caine, and Teeth, a Sundance favorite about a teenage girl with teeth in her you-know-what. Though this weekend itself is looking pretty calm compared to the last few-- only one wide release!-- delaying anything that isn't a heavy awards-season contender or a holiday movie seems like a smart move right now. Flawless seems like a perfectly fine film that could play well in the springtime lull, and Teeth seems destined for a cult audience that might be too busy at the moment to give it the time it deserves.