Among the numerous upcoming films that either changed or finally secured a release date this week (including Disney’s Lone Ranger) were three fairly different, but nonetheless interesting projects: Rian Johnson’s sci-fi thriller Looper; Roland Emmerich’s conspiracy theory period drama, Anonymous; and George Clooney’s new serious directorial effort, The Ides of March.
Looper was the only one of these three films that had not secured a date before now, which was all the more disappointing to fans who were anxious to see what the director of Brick and The Brothers Bloom would do with the concept of time travel. Sadly, they’ll have to wait a bit longer since Looper won’t arrive until September 28th of 2012.
Anonymous and Ides of March are both still slated to reach theaters this fall – just on different dates. The latter boasts a great cast that includes the likes of Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, and Clooney in a political drama based on the acclaimed play Farragut North. Clooney fans in particular should be pleased during the second half of 2011, since two promising projects that feature the Oscar-winner onscreen to some degree (Ides of March and Alexander Payne’s The Descendants) are scheduled to arrive.
While Ides of March actually had its release date bumped up to October 7th, Anonymous has been pushed back almost a month to October 28th (not really a good or bad sign). Although Emmerich’s new film about the real artist behind the collective works of William Shakespeare may not revolve around the world being destroyed, the official Anonymous teaser trailer certainly suggested it could be just as over-the-top and silly as just about everything else the director has made.
Johnson’s new project, on the other hand, is a lower-budgeted flick that boasts a thought-provoking premise (a futuristic crime syndicate uses time travel to “execute” people) and a great cast that includes his Brick star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, along with Paul Dano, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt. 2012 definitely should be a good year for Levitt fans, seeing how he’ll also be popping up in David Koepp’s thriller Premium Rush – and of course, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
To reiterate: The Ides of March is now scheduled for release on October 7th, 2011.
Anonymous will reach theaters three weeks later on October 28th.
Looper is going to arrive in theaters next year on September 28th, 2012.
