This year's two movies based on the "Snow White" fairy tale have already had a long history of date changes. After much jockeying, Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, the edgier and more action-oriented of the two, releases June 1, while Relativity Media's Mirror, Mirror, whose PG rating looks to play more to families than teens and young adults, comes our way in March.
Relativity set “Mirror” three months ahead of "Huntsman" in hopes of earning a box-office advantage by being first, but now the studio looks to have some concerns with its more immediate competition. Deadline Hollywood reports that Relativity will push “Mirror” back by two weeks from Mar. 16 to Mar. 30. This means the film, which stars Lily Collins, Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer, will now come out one week after Lionsgate releases its highly anticipated adaptation of The Hunger Games.
The move seems curious; had “Mirror” kept its original release date, the cop comedy 21 Jump Street would have been its only competition. Considering the lack of overlap in the targeted demographics, it probably would have opened better opposite “Street” than it will now. Coming out the same day are The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Wrath of the Titans, not to mention just the second weekend holdovers for “Hunger Games.” Relativity must think that Mirror, Mirror will do better over the long haul if released after the buzzed-about spring blockbuster compared to before, which would be a safe guess.
