The Weinstein Company has announced release dates for four of their upcoming films. Deadline reports that Our Idiot Brother (formerly My Idiot Brother—I guess "our" tested better with focus groups) is set for August 26th. The adaptation of Allison Pearson's novel I Don't Know How She Does It will replace Piranha 3DD on September 16th, and Piranha 3DD is swimming to Thanksgiving week with a November 23rd where the marketing writes itself. Finally, the biggest release date shift is Apollo 18. The found-footage sci-fi thriller was set to have a lightning-fast turn around and hit theaters earlier this month. That obviously didn't happen and TWC shifted the date to April 22nd. Now TWC has rescheduled the film all the way back to January 6, 2012. Ouch.Hit the jump for a synopsis on each film and what they'll be going up against on their new release dates.Currently, the only competition Our Idiot Brother has on August 26th is the 3D horror flick Final Destination 5. Here's the synopsis for Our Idiot Brother and you can click here to read my review of the film.
Ned Rochlin (Rudd) looks for the good in every situation and in everyone, which often puts him at odds with the world around him – especially his family.  Upon being released from jail for a stupid mistake, Ned is kicked off of the organic farm he lives and works on by his ex-girlfriend Janet (Hahn) who also insists on keeping his beloved dog, Willie Nelson.  Having nowhere else to go, he turns to his family, three ambitious sisters (Banks, Deschanel, Mortimer) and an overbearing mother (Knight).  Ned crashes at each of their homes, in succession, and brings honesty, happiness and a sunny disposition into their lives.  In other words, he wreaks havoc.
September 16th is a busy weekend. I Don't Know How She Does It will be going up against Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, Rod Lurie's remake of Straw Dogs (I'll believe this when I see it), and Johnny English Reborn. Here's the synopsis of Allison Pearson's novel. The film will star Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Bronsnan, Kelsey Grammar, Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers, Jane Curtin, and Greg Kinnear:
Meet Kate Reddy, hedge-fund manager and mother of two. She can juggle nine different currencies in five different time zones and get herself and two children washed and dressed and out of the house in half an hour. In Kate’s life, Everything Goes Perfectly as long as Everything Goes Perfectly. She lies to her own mother about how much time she spends with her kids; practices pelvic floor squeezes in the boardroom; applies tips from Toddler Taming to soothe her irascible boss; uses her cell phone in the office bathroom to procure a hamster for her daughter’s birthday (“Any working mother who says she doesn’t bribe her kids can add Liar to her résuméâ€); and cries into the laundry hamper when she misses her children’s bedtime. [Amazon]
Of course, the November 23rd weekend is even crazier. Piranha 3DD will fend off three family films and two of them are 3D: the animated flick Arthur Christmas (in 3D), Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret (also in 3D), and The Muppets (not in 3D). Also being released on that date is Todd Phillips' mystery comedy Project X. We currently don't have a plot synopsis for Piranha 3DD and I don't think we ever will.
Finally, no films are currently set to face off against Apollo 18 on January 6, 2012, but it will have to fight all of the big holiday hold-overs and expanding limited releases. Here's the synopsis:
Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972 was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.
---
