Universal has shuffled a couple of its summer movies around, moving up the release of crime thriller “2 Guns” from Aug. 16 to Aug. 2 and slotting “Kick-Ass 2,” which was supposed to open June 28, into the Aug. 16 slot.
The studio also announced on Thursday that it would release “R.I.P.D.,” a supernatural thriller based on the Dark Horse Comics mini-series, in 3D. Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges star in Robert Schwentke’s film, which a Universal spokeswoman described as “the perfect three-dimensional 2D film.”
The comedy follows two dead police offices who help the dead embrace eternal sleep.
Universal chalked the move of the other two films to a matter of fit, having now seen the films. Competition would also appear to be a factor.
“Kick-Ass 2” was going to open against both “The Heat,” a Paul Feig comedy, starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, and “White House Down,” Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster flick, starring Channing Tatum.
The original superhero comedy grossed $96 million worldwide, $48 million of which came overseas. Universal only handled international on that one but is distributing the sequel worldwide.
The sequel would also have opened just after “Monsters Inc.” sequel “Monsters University” and Paramount’s “World War Z,” and one weekend before Universal’s own “Despicable Me 2.”
Instead, it will now vie with ‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” in a sparser August calendar.
“2 Guns,” a crime thriller starring Denzel Washington and mark Wahlberg,” now opens up against a pair of action-heavy films, the sequels to “300” and “Red 2.”
