Two films we’re highly anticipated have just been given release dates, plus many others now have official theater plans as well.
First off is David Koepp’s New York-based bike-messenger thriller for Sony , “Premium Rush” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Jamie Chung and Aasif Mandvi has been slotted for January 13, 2012. Gordon-Levitt recently injured himself on the set of the movie, crashing into a Taxi, but he didn’t look worse for wear afterwards. We’re looking forward to that picture, so we’re hoping that early January date is not an indication of the film’s quality which it probably isn’t since it’s shooting in Manhattan as we speak.
Second on our most anticipated list of this crop of films is Jake Kasdan’s “Bad Teacher,” which arguably should be number one here. Kasdan directed Judd Apatow’s “Walk Hard” (ok, not the best Apatow film ever), and the impressive cast of this comedy includes, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch and John Michael Higgins, SNL alum Molly Shannon and Thomas Lennon.
It chronicles the life of a foul-mouthed, junior high teacher (Diaz) who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague (Timberlake) — a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher (Punch). We’re hoping it’s R-Rated and in the vein of something like “Bad Santa.” Regardless, Sony has given it a April 1, 2011 release.
One film we’re highly curious about is Rogue/Universal’s “Kids In America” which will mark the American and major studio debut of Canadian indie filmmaker Mike Dowse known for “It’s All Gone Pete Tong” and the hoser classic, “Fubar.” Dowse’s “Fubar 2” will be appearing at TIFF 2010, and it looks like he’s going to be directing Jay Baruchel’s hockey comedy, “Goon” so he’s having a banner year.
Now dated for March 4, 2011, “Kids In America” stars Topher Grace, Dan Fogler, Anna Faris, Lucy Punch, Teresa Palmer, Michelle Trachtenberg and Michael Biehn in a dramedy about an aimless college grad (Grace) who pursues his dream girl (Palmer) at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his twin sister (Faris) and their best friend (Fogler) struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night.
Rogue has also set, “The Warrior’s Way” for a December 3, 2010 bow. It’s a Asian Western directed by Sngmoo Lee and stars Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston and Geoffrey Rush. Other dates of note Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” has been given a November 11, 2011 date (also by Sony) and Luc Besson’s “Colombiana” starring Zoe Saldana has been slotted for September 2, 2011 by TriStar. [BOM]