With a little over a month before it was supposed to hit theaters, Paramount has announced that it is moving GI Joe: Retaliation from its announced June 29th release back nine months to March 29, 2013. The studio is moving the film in order to accommodate a post-production conversion to 3D.
According to Deadline, an unnamed Paramount exec stated “We’re going to do a conscientious 3D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally.” If March seems like an odd time to open a big-budget film, it should be noted that the recent success The Hunger Games had in that month may be rewriting the line of thought.
Meanwhile, Universal is not about to let the date go vacant and have moved their comedy Ted forward from it’s originally announced July 13 premier. The move will allow the film to get a head start on the busy July 4th long weekend during which movie attendance skyrockets.
