UPDATE: Who needs action figures when you can have a teddy bear?
Well, a very special kind of teddy bear (i.e., a foul-mouthed and hard-drinking one), anyway. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" may have retreated to 2013, but Seth MacFarlane's "Ted" is staying put — and moving up to the June 29 release date vacated by the Real American Heroes, according to Deadline.
"Ted" was originally scheduled for July 13, sandwiched in-between "The Amazing Spider-Man" (July 3) and "The Dark Knight Rises" (July 20). With the move up to June 29, the raunchy R-rated comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and his walking, talking teddy bear now has "two more weeks of primetime summer," according to a Universal exec.
Another R-rated film, "Magic Mike," is also scheduled to open on June 29, making it one of the most "grown-up" weekends of the summer. Well, if movies about teddy bears and male strippers are indeed for "grown-ups," that is.
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G.I. Nooooooooooooooo!
Sorry, soldiers. But there's bad news for everyone who has been anxiously awaiting next month's debut of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," as Deadline is reporting that Paramount has decided to push the film back to March 29, 2013 in order to convert the film to 3-D.
Say it ain't so, Joe!
So why would Paramount take one of its summer tentpoles off the board at such a late date, especially considering they moved it to this June in the first place in order to fill the gap left by the delay of 'Star Trek 2?" Simple: Money.
"We're going to do a conscientious 3-D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally," a studio exec told Deadline. "Jim Cameron did all of 'Titanic''s 3-D in post – and look how well that movie turned out."
Pushing the film back also provides a couple of other benefits as well, as "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" will be moving from an extremely crowded summer field (it had been sandwiched between the opening weekends for "Brave" and "The Amazing Spider-Man") to a March date with far less competition. And it also allows star Channing Tatum to avoid dividing his own fans; the other major studio film being released on June 29 happens to Tatum's stripper comedy, "Magic Mike."
Still, that's all small consolation for fans desperately awaiting their next cuppa Joe. But don't worry — Cobra may have won this round, but Joe always triumphs in the end, even if they have to wait another year to do it.
Originally published on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 5:06 p.m. ET.
