Wanderlust, a comedy written by actor Paul Rudd, along with David Wain and Ken Marino, and co-starring Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, is being delayed by Universal Pictures.
The film, which is in the can, was to be released on October 7th. Now, Universal will release the comedy in the movie dead zone of February 24th.
Wanderlust stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston as a married couple attempting to escape modern society and wind up at a bizarre hippie commune in upstate New York.
Naturally, the commune is crawling with an all star cast of good natured weirdos. Wanderlust co-stars include Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Joe Lo Truglio, Malin Akerman, Lauren Ambrose, Ray Liotta, Kathryn Hahn and Linda Lavin, among others. Wanderlust was shot last September in New York and Atlanta, Georgia.
This is the third directorial effort for David Wain following his well reviewed absurdest summer camp comedy Wet Hot American Summer and the more straight forward buddy comedy Role Models, each starring Paul Rudd.
Now, speculation about Wanderlust turns to why? Why did Universal decide to bump the movie to the February dead zone? The film’s original date, October 7th, does have three other releases crowding the market including the Oscar contender The Ides of March, the action flick Real Steel and the comedy Dirty Girl.
There is another, less flattering theory however. That theory follows the failure of Paul Rudd’s Our Idiot Brother in becoming a break out success. Wanderlust may have an all star cast but neither Rudd or co-star Jennifer Aniston has shown that they can open a movie to significant box office.
The film will find a much softer market in February. Aside from Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, Friday February 24th features two other wide releases, Gone starring Amanda Seyfried and The Devil Inside starring Danny Trejo; each a niche release and neither one a comedy.
Regardless of why Wanderlust is moving, it will now poke its head out in Feb and fans will have to wait until 2012 to check this one out.