Summit Sets Release Dates for ‘Red 2,’ ‘Ender’s Game’ and More

Summit Entertainment, the youngest of the major studios producing and distributing major films these days, struck gold (or blood?) in acquiring the rights to the "Twilight" series. After launching into the big leagues with Twilight in 2008, the studio brought Best Picture-winner The Hurt Locker to movie theaters the following year. Despite several missteps in terms of box office success, including this year's flop Drive Angry and this past weekend's The Three Musketeers, the studio has begun to shape a promising calendar for 2012 and 2013, including a sequel to last year's Red.

According to Box Office Mojo, Red 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on August 2, 2013, scoring that "last major weekend of the summer" spot which was proved all the more valuable by this year's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Jon and Erich Hoeber, writers of the first film and next summer's Battleship delivered the initial script for the sequel. It's unclear who from the original (Bruce Willis, Mary Louise-Parker, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich among other) would return including director Robert Schwentke, who's now filming R.I.P.D. starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.

More strikingly is the appearance of Ender's Game on the schedule. X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood has been hard at work along with producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci in bringing the beloved Orson Scott Card novel to life after years of development hell. No stars are attached, though the story focuses mostly on children being trained at an elite space military academy. Fans of the book will have something to be skeptical about on March 15, 2013.

One of the studio's more intriguing new projects is Now You See Me, described as a magician heist thriller from director Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans) and writers Boaz Yakin (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and Edward Ricourt. The film has Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher and Mélanie Laurent attached. It seems very high profile for a release date of January 18, 2013.

Summit has also smoothed out its late summary schedule for 2012. Within a month from late July to late August, the studio will release dance sequel Step Up 4, zombie rom-com Warm Bodies from 50/50 director Jonathan Levine and Scott Derrickson's (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) murder mystery thriller Sinister starring Ethan Hawke. Expect more shifting next year.