“Red Dawn” finally made it to multiplexes on the day before Thanksgiving, a full two years after its original planned release date.


The actioner performed in line with expectations with a moderate $22 million over the five days — a decent return since extensive delays in releasing films usually indicate that box office prospects won’t be particularly bright. The opening of “Red Dawn” also represented a minor milestone in that it is the final film to come out of the MGM regime of Harry Sloan and Mary Parent. It was one of four films shot in 2009 along with “Hot Tub Time Machine,” “The Zookeeper” and “Cabin in the Woods.” “Hot Tub” was released in the spring of 2010 and grossed $50 million domestically; “The Zookeeper” was delayed nine months until the summer of 2011 and took in $80 million through Sony. “Cabin in the Woods” was first delayed for a year for a 3D conversion until January 2011, then sold to Lionsgate, which released it in April of this year to a domestic cume of $42 million. The ongoing financial problems at MGM caused the delays. The Lion went through a bankruptcy in late 2010 and decided it would partner with other studios for distribution. In the case of “Red Dawn,” Sloan and Parent first announced plans for the remake at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Shooting began in Michigan in September 2009 but MGM backed off the original release date in the spring of 2010, then reached a deal last year with FilmDistrict to handle distribution. It’s tough for studios to place films in limbo since interest costs run up and negative buzz builds. Sometimes, the search for a better release date appears to pay off: Warner Bros. shifted “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” from November 2008 to July 2009 so it could have a summer blockbuster. Sony moved the release date on “The Green Hornet” three times before settling on January 2011 and winding up with a $99 million domestic gross. Miramax had originally planned to release “The Debt” in December 2010, but Disney’s decision to sell the label led to an August 2011 release through Focus and a $30 million U.S. gross. DreamWorks’ “A Thousand Words” was another title caught amid an ownership shift as the Eddie Murphy comedy was shot in 2008 but found itself in limbo once Paramount concluded its deal in 2009 to sell DreamWorks. When Murphy was named Oscar host last year, Par set a release date of March 23 of this year, shifted it to April once Murphy stepped down and finally released “Words” in early March to an underwhelming $20 million domestic cume. Murphy’s “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” is one of the worst performers among delayed films: The sci-fi comedy grossed a mere $4.4 million in 2002. One of the more notable examples of a shelved film is “Case 39,” a Renee Zellweger thriller shot in 2006 and not released in the U.S. until 2010, a year after it had opened in Europe. Domestic box office cume was only $13 million. The search for an ideal release date never stops. Notably, Warner Bros. has shifted three of its high-profile releases, “Man of Steel,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Jack the Giant Slayer” until 2013, and Paramount’s moved “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” from last June to March 29, 2013, with the explanation that it needed to add 3D.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com


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