Movies

‘Jupiter Ascending’ pushed back to 2015

The summer movie market just got a little less crowded.

In a shocking move, Warner Bros. announced late Tuesday night that “Jupiter Ascending” will be delayed from its planned release date of July 18 to a new opening of February 6, 2015.

The sci-fi spectacle, directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski of “The Matrix” fame, stars A-list actors Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. Kunis plays a woman targeted for assassination by the queen of the universe, while Tatum takes on a wolf hybrid who protects her.

With less than seven weeks until the reportedly $150 million budgeted film was set to open, the studio’s domestic distribution chief Dan Fellman told Variety that the delay to the quieter month of February was a result of uncompleted special effects work.

““With the July release date, they were just not going to make it on time,” he said. “A lot of the issue for us was getting it ready for the international release, since the foreign territories need additional time.”

But the Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio was likely concerned with “bad buzz” around the film. Box Office Mojo predicted back in April that the movie would be one of the “big bombs” of the summer, comparing its chances to past train wrecks “John Carter” and “Battleship.”