There were some rumors that CBS Films was going to move back Vanessa Hudgens-starrer Beastly after Universal Pictures moved Zac Efron-starrer Charlie St. Cloud up from October to July 30, the same date as Beastly. Now, the studio has confirmed that is indeed pushing back Beastly with a rather surprising statement on the film’s official Facebook page:
Beastly fans-You guys are awesome-so we wanted to make sure you were the first to hear the official news, Beastly is moving off of July 30th. We’ve been hearing from fans, so we know that having both Zac and Vanessa’s movies opening on the same day could be a real dilemma for people, so we are moving Beastly. We’ll keep you posted on all the latest, so keep checking back here for all things Beastly.
Fans in the comments are calling the statement “unprofessional” and argue that a release date should have nothing to do with actors’ real-life relationships.
What’s interesting is that we’ve been hearing that the studio is working on changing the marketing materials for the film which is probably the more likely reason. Also, opening Beastly against bigger summer blockbusters may not have been a good idea in the first place.
Amazon.com is listing a new release date of January 4, 2011 for the film’s soundtrack so there’s a good chance the studio is now looking at a January 7 release for the film. The other films scheduled for that date are thriller Unknown White Male, starring Liam Neeson, and Ivan Reitman’s untitled romantic comedy, starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman.
