So, a vote of confidence or changing out one dubious date for another? January is considered a cinematic dumping ground, but the end of August is not much better. What arrived at the end of the summer this year? “Colombiana,” “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” “Our Idiot Brother” and “The Debt” and all were middling efforts at the box office, except for the latter which offered a rare breath of adult entertainment in a blockbuster season. But, Sony are moving their Joseph Gordon-Levitt led “Premium Rush” from January 13, 2012 to August 24, 2012 instead. And there’s one pretty obvious reason why: “The Dark Knight Rises.”
As “50/50” proved, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not a box office draw on his own yet. While that film has climbed to a respectable $25 million so far, it opened at #5 on opening weekend with a wide release on over 2,400 screens. Sony likely saw those numbers and figured it might be a better play to switch up the David Koepp directed movie to after “The Dark Knight Rises,” and hope that JGL’s appearance in that film will boost interest in the bike courier-thriller.
Co-starring Michael Shannon, the slick piece of pop entertainment follows a New York City bike courier (JGL) who is accidentally carrying something that a crooked New York cop (Shannon) is after. Surprisingly, “Premium Rush” is only film currently slated for that weekend, but there is still plenty of time for some competition to elbow its way onto the date. [BoxOfficeMojo]