Sony Pushes Roland Emmerich’s ANONYMOUS Back to Fall 2011

Sony has moved Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous from March 25, 2011 to September 23, 2011.  The period-drama is based on the controversial notion that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays that were attributed to William Shakespeare.  Here’s how Emmerich (whose past films include Independence Day and 2012) describes the film:

“It’s a mix of a lot of things: it’s an historical thriller because it’s about who will succeed Queen Elizabeth and the struggle of the people who want to have a hand in it. It’s the Tudors on one side and the Cecils on the other, and in between [the two] is the Queen. Through that story we tell how the plays written by the Earl of Oxford ended up labeled ‘William Shakespeare’.”

The only other film currently sharing the September 23, 2011 date is the family adventure film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island starring Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, and Michael Caine.  Anonymous stars Edward Hogg, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis, and Rhys Ifans.  [Box Office Mojo]