"The Great Gatsby" will kick off the summer season for Warner Bros. on May 10, 2013, the studio said Friday.
The Baz Luhrmann-directed film will be released internationally the following week.
The film, a risky 3D adaptation of a literary classic, was originally slated to hit theaters on Dec. 25, 2012. Warner Bros. announced Aug. 6 it would move out of a crowded Christmas season into summer 2013, but did not issue a new date.
The move takes "Gatsby" out of awards season and positions it as more of a summer tentpole. Movies released in May are not precluded from awards consideration, but they face a steeper climb compared to those released in the fall and winter.
Based on trailers and conversations with studio executives, the movie focuses more on the party culture and glitz and glam of the Roaring Twenties than the book does. That is in keeping with Luhrmann's grandiose style.
The director is also known for taking a long time in post-production, which may have motivated the initial move.
Still, with a blue chip cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio as the mysterious Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as the selfish Daisy, expectations are high. Trailers for the big screen version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age masterpiece seem to promise the same kind of visual opulence that made Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" a sensory smash.
