Last November Relativity bought back distribution rights to Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and at that time the film was expected to hit theaters this past April. Two months later and that obviously hasn’t happened and now Relativity has announced in a press release the film won’t even hit theaters this year as Relativity has slotted it for a January 20, 2012 release date. As for the film’s Oscar prospects, I only mention that because it’s a Soderbergh film, but realistically this never sounded like a film up the Academy’s alley. Though I will still keep in The Contenders as a limited run could still be possible.
Haywire was penned by Lem Dobbs (The Limey, Dark City) and casts MMA Fighter Gina Carano in the lead role as a black ops soldier who works in the deadly world of international operatives. She strikes back after discovering she’s been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency. The film co-stars Channing Tatum (GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra), Ewan McGregor (The Ghost Writer), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Antonio Banderas (Desperado), Bill Paxton (Titanic), Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) and Michael Angarano (Almost Famous).
This comes on the heels of yesterday’s news that Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher was also brought back to Relativity after spending some time in Lionsgate’s stables and will now hit theaters later this year.
Machine Gun Preacher was penned by Jason Keller and centers on a character named Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who’ve been forced to become soldiers. Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon co-star.
Also, speaking of Keller, he co-wrote Tarsem Singh’s upcoming Untitled Snow White project with Melisa Wallack (Meet Bill), which was in the news this morning when a press release announced a June 20 start of principal photography. That film tells the story of an evil Queen (Julia Roberts) who steals control of a kingdom, and an exiled princess (Lily Collins) enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright. The film also stars Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as the object of their affection, Prince Andrew Alcott, and Nathan Lane (The Birdcage) as the hapless and bungling servant to the Queen. A March 16, 2012 release date has already been set.
