What? 'Dance Flick' Now Opening May 22nd?

Sometime very recently, apparently, the release date for the new Wayans Brothers comedy, Dance Flick was changed again. Originally set for a Feburary debut, the film was pushed back to mid-August. Now, according to the Paramount website and a couple other sources, Dance Flick will compete head-to-head with Terminator Salvation and Night at the Museum on May 22nd. I've searched high and low (but mostly high) for an announcement about the change, but to no avail. I can see several independent sources indicating that it's due out in May, but nothing anywhere about when its status changed from August. Interestingly enough, my Paramount reps still had the August 14th date on their most recent updates of the studio's releases, which I got received last Tuesday. A Wayans movie typically wouldn't be worth the amount of effort I've already put into it. It's not like the studio is going to give me a chance to see it beforehand, so why bother? But this is different for two reasons. The most obvious question mark is why one of the major studios would pick a weekend in May for a relocation project. That month could be one of the biggest in history, with Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator, Night at the Museum, and Up all safe bets to clear $150 million this summer. Moving it to June wouldn't make sense - not that this move does - because there are a lot more comedies in June than anywhere else, even though that month has much fewer blockbusters. What about going up against Harry Potter? It's more logical to open against one of the last big ticket items of the summer rather than two of the first. Of course, then again, what was wrong with August 14th, where Dance Flick would have been the biggest release of the weekend? The second question that immediately comes to mind is why Paramount would choose to transport a movie three months to put it two weeks away from its first tentpole of the summer (Star Trek). The position it's in now also puts it three weeks away from another Paramount comedy, Eddie Murphy's I Still Make Bad Career Choices or whatever it's called. Seriously, none of it makes sense. Maybe that's why I stumbled onto the information instead of being told by the studio in the first place.

Comments

[JMK]

I saw this schedule change on IMDB weeks ago, though I agree opening it against two of the biggest movies of the summer makes no GS sense...then again, that may be apropos given it's a Wayans Bros. movie we're talking about...

[spluftin]

My question is, is why they're even releasing a movie such as this. I just saw a preview for it yesterday when I went and saw I Love You, Man, and I looked at my friend and said "this is a joke right, this isn't a real movie right?" It really looks like it has potential to be the worst possible movie of all time.