Paramount has changed up the release dates on a couple of its upcoming films: the Eddie Murphy dramedy A Thousand Words and the Italian-set, horror/thriller The Devil Inside. Here are the details of the changes:

• A Thousand Words moves from January 13th to March 23rd, 2012. The change now pits the film against Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games
• The Devil Inside moves up from February 24th to January 6th, 2012. The film will now go head-to-head with the Sam Raimi-produced horror/thriller The Possession starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick

News of the release date changes come courtesy of THR whose report astutely points out that Paramount’s reasoning for moving A Thousand Words most likely stems from Murphy’s gig hosting the 2012 Oscars on February 27th and the near guaranteed publicity it will bring to the pic. A Thousand Words is directed by Brian Robbins (Norbit) and sees Murphy play a man who learns that he only has 1,000 more words to speak prior to his demise. As for The Devil Inside, the documentary-style film from writer/director William Brent Bell was made on a six-figure budget and follows a woman who becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms.

“A man discovers he only has one thousand words left to speak before he dies.”  That’s a cool premise, no?  Unfortunately, the end result is less promising.  Eddie Murphy reunited with Norbit/Meet Dave director Brian Robbins to shoot A Thousand Words in 2008, joined by Kerry Washington,  Allison Janney, Clark Duke, Cliff Curtis, and Ariel Winter.  The finished film was caught up in the February 2009 split between Paramount and DreamWorks, and Paramount has taken their sweet time to get the movie in theaters.  According to Exhibitor Relations, Paramount has finally scheduled A Thousand Words for release on January 13, 2012.

The test screening process has not shown favor to the comedy, and a January release date rarely indicates confidence in a project.  But man, d0 I love that premise.  I’ll cling to that until we see the first trailer.

Fred Figglehorn, created and played by teenager Lucas Cruikshank, is one of the most popular internet characters of all time. Now, he is appearing in his first-ever film, Fred: The Movie, premiering on Nickelodeon on September 18^th and out on DVD on October 5^th. Centering on Fred’s biggest adventure yet, the film follows his attempt to win over his unrequited love, Judy (British singing sensation Pixie Lott). Judy has moved away and a devastated Fred embarks on a journey to find her, along with the help of his best friend, Bertha (iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy).

Conceived and developed by filmmaker Brian Robbins, Fred: The Movie was made independently and financed with his own money, before he approached Nickelodeon about getting involved. And, with his pedigree and success behind the camera – as executive producer of the Disney Channel hit series Sonny with a Chance, the Spike TV series Blue Mountain State, The CW dramas Smallville and One Tree Hill, and kids’ programming like All That, The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel – his desire to turn it into a franchise doesn’t seem far from realization.  Continued after the jump: