Sony revealed a number of release-date moves tonight, including taking the Jack Black comedy Oh Hell No off the schedule, dating the Sandra Oh horror pic Umma for next month and confirming the Tom Hanks-led remake A Man Called Otto for Christmas Day, as Deadline reported last week.
The studio also said tonight that the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody starring Naomi Ackie will open two days earlier than planned, now on Wednesday, December 21, and it moved Sam Raimi’s Adam Driver-led sci-fi thriller 65 back nearly a year to April 14, 2023. It had been set for this April 29.
Stage 6’s Umma — Korean for “mother” — has been set for March 18, just a month from now. The pic from writer-director Iris K. Shim follows Amanda (Oh) and her daughter (Fivel Stewart) living a quiet life on an American farm. But when the remains of her estranged mother arrive from Korea, Amanda becomes haunted by the fear of turning into her own mother.
The film moves to a date with two other wide releases: Lionsgate’s family drama The Unbreakable Boy and A24’s horror show X.
Kasi Lemmons directs I Wanna Dance with Somebody from a script by Anthony McCarten. It focuses on the life and career of hitmaker Houston and also stars Stanley Tucci, Nafessa Williams, Clarke Peters, Tamara Tunie and Ashton Sanders. The musical biopic moves up to counterprogram the untitled Mario Brothers toon from Illumination/Universal starring Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy and others..
Marc Foster directs and David Magee scripted A Man Called Otto, a remake of the Swedish hit A Man Called Ove. Hanks is Otto, a grumpy and isolated widower who gives everyone in his neighborhood a hard time as he watches over it like a hawk. Just as it seems like he’s finally given up on life, an unlikely and reluctant friendship develops with his new neighbors.
The comedy’s competing December 25 opener is Paramount’s 1920s-set Margot Robbie-Brad Pitt Babylon.
Scott Beck & Bryan Wood wrote and directed 65, from producer Raimi. Ariana Greenblatt and Chloe Coleman also star in the pic, whose plot is being kept under wraps.
Here are all the date changes announced tonight:
A Man Called Otto (Columbia Pictures) – December 25
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (TriStar Pictures) – December 21 (was December 23)
65 (Columbia Pictures) – April 14, 2023 (was April 29, 2022)
Umma (Stage 6 Films) – March 18, 2022
Oh Hell No (Columbia Pictures) – Date TBD (was June 17)