Yesterday at Comic Con, Universal and Legendary revealed Michael Mann‘s next movie will indeed be titled Blackhat (previously known as Cyber) as was previously rumored while also premiering the logo for the film (see above) as well as a new look at Mann on set with the film’s star Chris Hemsworth (see below).
Set for a January 16 release, the film follows a furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners as they hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. Alongside Hemsworth, the film co-stars Viola Davis, Tang Wei and Wang Leehom. Morgan Davis Foehl and Mann co-wrote the screenplay.
Now when it comes to that January release date, it sounds like Universal may be planning a small Oscar qualifying run and hoping for Lone Survivor-style results. Lone Survivor opened in two theaters on Christmas Day before going wide on January 10 and ended its domestic run with $125 million on a $40 million budget.
The movie doesn’t appear to be much of an Oscar movie, but given the success of Lone Survivor it does seem a certain kind of film can find audience traction if its good enough and the buzz is just right. We’ll see. However you look at it, it would suggest the film is better than its January dumping ground release date suggests.
