The Quick Take: "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" Retreats

For a sequel to a film that really didn’t do all that well with critics and did just okay at the box office, G.I. Joe: Retaliation has a lot of buzz going for it. A slick marketing campaign, heightened sense of visuals and an almost completely new cast, things were really looking up. And they still might be, just not till March 29, 2013.

Announced today, G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been moved back nine months from its June 29 release date for a... wait for it... 3D conversion! This came by surprise, since the movie was a month away from release, had a ton of buzz and seemed not into the 3D idea.

One can only speculate why the studio (Paramount) has decided to do this, but there are a few things we can rule out. It can’t be from the quality of the finished product, since you would be able to tell the quality of your film much earlier than a month before the world sees it. A slight factor may be it’s competition (The Amazing Spider-Man opens the week after) but the studio had this release date for some time.

Actually, it may have come down to a film that just opened last weekend to poor box office results. Battleship, a non-3D movie, made slim pickings domestically and while it has been doing well overseas, Universal is looking at a $150 million loss. Now, if it was in 3D we might be looking at a much smaller number.

If you’re a Paramount executive and you see the possibility of only one big weekend for your movie before you get lost in shuffle of a stacked July, yeah, you would want that extra two dollars a ticket during a slower month.

Watch the trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ip8CgUplzk