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Universal is moving the release of its epic Hasbro action-adventure Battleship to May 25, anchoring 2012′s Memorial Day weekend. Originally slated for release in July 2011, the film was moved “to give it the time and resources to thoroughly realize its huge-scale ambitions and position it,” the studio announced tonight. “Universal has put all the elements in place to successfully launch our classic Hasbro brands on the big screen,” said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, praising the, Inc. “Giving Pete Berg and the filmmakers the extra time and resources to make Battleship an even bigger summer blockbuster, is sure to pay dividends when the film is released in 2012.”
Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom) came aboard in Fall 2009 to produce and direct Battleship, which the studio says will unfold as a massive Naval adventure across the seas, in the skies, and over land as Planet Earth fights for survival against a superior force. “We believe in Pete Berg and the incredible vision that he and the Battleship team have for this film,” said Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson. “We’re honored that Hasbro is partnering with us to turn one of its landmark properties into a huge summer box-office hit.” Scott Stuber (The Wolfman, Couples Retreat) is producing through his Universal-based Stuber Pictures, and Sarah Aubrey (The Kingdom, The Losers) is producing with Berg for Film 44. Brian Goldner and Bennet Schneir are producing for Hasbro.
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More time for shakey-cam!
I think I just threw up in my mouth.
You do realize that there are aliens in this thing right? So the humans will shout “You sunk my Battleship!” and cinema will be the poorer for it.
Has anyone read the Hoeber brothers script?
Only the Parker Brothers script
Oh, good grief. What’s next, ‘Pick-Up Sticks: The Movie’?
Dear Universal,
Battleship is game that consists of a grid and pins. I am much more interesting. I am made of rubber.
Sincerely,
Stretch Armstrong
Yes, the kingdom did so well.
And Hancock – wasn’t that two movies?
Anyone with a two clue kit will understand the second comment. Dumb idea for a film, but doomed as this guy does not in any way understand cinematic story telling.
Hate to see universal waste the dollars, but they’ll put enough FX and marketing behind it to break even. It’s a shame they still don’t understand that good movies with that kind of market push would actually make money.
Not a film I’ll see, and I see everything.
Peter Berg is perhaps the biggest douchebag director in Hollywood. He’s a manchild of minimal talent and huge ego. He’s lucky he sleazed his way into directing, cuz his acting sucks too. And I’m being positive here.
Agreed. Guy draws Will Smith and loses the hand. How useless can you be?
This is most hacktastic news.
How did he steadily fail upwards? A nose-candy connection? A harem and a magic hot tub?
Fascinating to ponder.
“How did he steadily fail upwards?” Ask Ari.
A “superior force”? What would that be, a Milton Bradley game?
There is no way this film will be able to keep a memorial day time slot.
True, Hancock and The Kingdom left much to be desired, but this is the same guy who’s responsible for Friday Night Lights – one of the best TV shows ever made. I’m kind of excited to see what he does with this, actually.
I don’t know what “calls dem as I sees dem” is seeing but I’ve only ever seen Pete as charming, self-effacing, energetic and wildly talented.
Very funny!
In other developments, Fox has announced it has optioned “Hungry Hungry Hippos” for director Antoine Fuqua and is eyeing a Christmas 2012 release. Warner Brothers has also asked that director Guy Ritchie shoot “Jenga” in 3D, which means its July 4 release will have to be pushed back, leaving Paramount’s “Zhu Zhu Pets” with the lucrative Fourth of July Weekend.
I read an early draft of a “Hungry Hungry Hippos” screenplay a while back. It was actually pretty funny. Fuqua is pretty serious, I wonder if he can handle comedy.
i can just see it now:
pvt: captain, we can only take one more strike on our battlecruiser B4 the whole fleet is lost.
captain: i H8 these russians. we must sink their battleship or else our whole grid is lost!
More like -
Captain: Sir, we’ve almost eliminated the entire Russian fleet
Admiral: As long as their patrol boat is out there, none of us can sleep safe..
Let me just run this through the studio jargon translator……
“…to give it the time and resources to thoroughly realize its huge-scale ambitions and position it…”
Comes out as: “We don’t feel comfortable giving Berg $250m to make this so we’ll start chipping away at the budget, and see if we can make it cheaper while also expecting him to shoot it in 3D. If not, we’ll drop kick him off the project and bring in someone else to try make the same date. More or less the same thing Paramount did to him with Dune.”
“pvt: captain, we can only take one more strike on our battlecruiser B4 the whole fleet is lost.
captain: i H8 these russians. we must sink their battleship or else our whole grid is lost!”
Goddamn that’s actually funny, “Me”! I’d see it if it were in that kinda “Airplane” spirit.
But of course it won’t…
>>>to successfully launch our classic Hasbro brands on the big screen
So it’s a movie-length ad?
Didn’t James Cameron actually make fun of movies based on board games recently? He said something like “…battleship was taken”.
Let’s not forget—”Clue” is a classic.
Who in their right mind is going to see this? Are things so bad in H’wood that this is what is getting greenlit these day? Can “Boggle: The Movie” be far off?
Universal finally earned its name by cranking out generic formula movies that pollute DVD markets globally with inane fare. And now it’s gunning for the big time. But…Battleship postponed? To provide it with more resources for blockbuster results? Thanks to Hasbro? “We believe in Pete Berg…”? Goodness, that’s the sound marketing money makes when it’s thrown at a probable disaster. Peter Principle written all over this one, too, with this kind of spin. No pun intented concerning the director, of course. It’s a collective thing…but, hey, good luck everyone. Take your money and run.