Got your holiday viewing schedule all mapped out? Well, you'll have to make some changes. Several films have changed dates, and some have even been delayed until 2000.
First, there's word that Oliver Stone won't deliver Any Given Sunday in time for its Dec. 25 release date. The New York Daily News says that Stone "has the suits at Warner Bros. in a tizzy" over whether he'll finish editing the football opus on schedule.
The film's about an NFL coach (Al Pacino) who's undermined in his efforts by the teamowner's daughter (Cameron Diaz). The film also stars Dennis Quaid as an aging football legend and Jamie Foxx as a brash young upstart.
According to one insider, Stone's having a hard time cutting the epic-length movie down to a reasonable running time. His first cut was reportedly four hours long. But Stone spokeswoman Pat Kingsley tells the News that there are no problems between the director and the studio and that the movie will be completed in time for the Christmas release.
A report on movieweb.com says that the film won't open until Jan. 7, but a Warner Bros. spokesman tells Mr. Showbiz that it's still scheduled for Dec. 25.
Meanwhile, movies that have definitely changed release dates include the Kate Winslet-Harvey Keitel starrer Holy Smoke, moved from Oct. 22 to Dec. 3; DreamWorks shifted Galaxy Quest from Dec. 10 to Dec. 25; while Warner Bros. has moved up the much-anticipated The Green Mile, from Dec. 17 to Dec. 10.
Miramax confirmed that Ben Affleck's Reindeer Games has been bumped off the 1999 schedule for a Feb. 25, 2000, release, and Sony just pushed back the Meg Ryan-Diane Keaton-Lisa Kudrow sister pic, Hanging Up, to Feb. 11. Also out of the running for 1999 Oscars: Winona Ryder's supernatural thriller Lost Souls, moved to February; Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson in Play It to the Bone moved from Nov. 12 to Jan. 14; and Billy Bob Thornton's Daddy and Them, originally set for Christmas, now moved to "first quarter 2000."
Other films that won't open until after the millennial changeover include the horror parody Scary Movie, which has gone through a name change and several date changes. Once called Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween, it was originally announced for October, bumped to November, and then booted to February 2000. Scream 3, which finished behind schedule, was pushed from December to February.
Of course, boys and girls, these names and dates are still subject to change. And just in case you decide to forgo Christmas Eve celebrations in your rush to see some Christmas releases, please note that many of these films will, indeed, open on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, which falls on a Saturday this year.
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