Well, this little change was unexpected. According to TheWrap, Fox has delayed Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming comic book film Kingsman: The Secret Service to February 13th, 2015, which places it in the unique (and awkward) position of going up against Fifty Shades of Grey at the box office.
Kingsman will act as a nice bit of counter-programming for that Valentine’s Day weekend, though I still can’t help but to wonder if Fox has made a terrible mistake here. Fifty Shades may be derided my movie fans everywhere, but it’s going to make a killing in theaters, so does the Colin Firth spy thriller stand a chance?
Admittedly, Kingsman‘s original date of October 24th, 2014 was a bit crowded with Ouija, Laggies, the Bill Murray comedy St. Vincent and Paranormal Activity 5 all opening the same day, so even if Kingsman doesn’t live through its battle with its raunchier competition in 2015, it could earn more money than it would have by standing its ground in 2014.
Kingsman‘s delay also comes with another release date shift, as the Poltergeist remake was originally slated to hit on Valentine’s Day 2015. Now that Kingsman has taken that slot, Fox has shifted Poltergeist to July 24, 2015, making it the first horror film of that summer, which should help it immensely (as seen by The Purge and The Conjuring finding success in June and July of 2013).
Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Mark Hamill, and Taron Egerton. Poltergeist is directed by Gil Kenan, and stars Sam Rockwell, Jared Harris, and Rosemarie DeWitt.