Mike Fleming

kevin-james-koqThe new date set by Sony’s Columbia Pictures for the comedy is now July 8th, 2011, not October 8, 2010 which MGM had originally slotted for it. The decision was made after a rousing test screening with “some of the highest scores we have ever seen,” a studio exec tells me. Seriously, the advance word on this pic has been great, and now the buzz is even bigger as agents, managers, and other Hollywood types start seeing parts of it. Which just goes to show that even an embattled studio like MGM, on the brink of bankruptcy, can uncork one. Even better, MGM hired Kevin at a bargain price because it was before he’d made Paul Blart: Media Cop. As MGM’s financial situation worsened, the pic became a co-production with Sony, which at first was distributing only overseas but now is handling domestic as well.

James stars with Rosario Dawson and a voice cast that includes Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Jon Favreau and Judd Apatow. MGM acquired the film for $2 million as a spec script by Jay Scherick and David Ronn, and then brought in Columbia as a co-production partner.

MGM Uncertainty Prompts Sony To Take Over `Zookeeper’ Domestic Distribution