When studios start shuffling release dates, it can be a portent of doom. Such moves are often accompanied with whispers about production problems, or executive disappointment with the finished product itself. Paramount’s sudden adjustment to the roll-out of its live action-computer animation hybrid Monster Trucks suggests the opposite, however. Of all the months to shift it to, the studio has opted to push it back to March 2016 – a month that many would give a wide berth, given that the cinematic juggernaut Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice will be pulling into theatres at that time. Not so for Monster Trucks, which will now arrive a week before that superhero smack-down.
On its previous release date – December 25th, 2015 – Monster Trucks would have faced off with Concussion (starring Will Smith), Joy (starring Jennifer Lawrence), the Point Break remake, Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, The Revenant (starring Leonardo DiCaprio), and Snowden (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt). In its new slot, it will take on The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1, before rolling into the path of the oncoming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. This is very much a power move by Paramount and is testament to the confidence they clearly have in the film.
Monster Trucks is the first foray into live action for director Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots, Epic) – albeit in combination with computer generated images. It stars Jane Levy, Lucas Till, Amy Ryan, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Barry Pepper and Holt McCallany, and boasts a screenplay that comes from Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger – both of Kung Fu Panda and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water fame – along with Derek Connolly, who co-wrote Jurassic World.
Details of the Monster Trucks plot have yet to be revealed, but the tagline for the movie is, apparently, “Comedy just got crushed.” On March 18th, 2016, we will finally find out whether that crushing sensation will also be felt by the competition.
