After a brief sequel detour of Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, Pixar returns to original properties in 2012 with Brave. According to The Wrap, Disney has moved the release date from July 22 to July 15, 2012. Brave is a princess fairy tale set in the Scottish highlands and features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, and (like all Pixar films that precede it) John Ratzenberger.Fox Searchlight acquired Another Earth out of the Sundance Film Festival and has now scheduled a limited release for July 22. William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor, and Flint Beverage star in the sci-fi film that centers on the discovery of a second Earth. Hit the jump for synopses for both Brave and Another Earth.
Brave was previously targeting a holiday 2011 release when it was called The Bear and the Bow and directed by Brenda Chapman (The Prince of Egypt). Since then, the studio retitled the film and stirred a minor controversy when they replaced Chapman with Mark Andrews, who directed the Pixar short One Man Band. It's too bad that Chapman had to be replaced, but such retooling appears to be part of the Pixar process -- I'm clearly not in the position to question it.  Brave faces Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on the new date. The synopsis:
The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father's kingdom and her mother's life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right.
Another Earth won the Alfred P. Sloan Award for “outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character" out of Sundance. This writer is a math/physics geek really looking forward to the movie, so I'm pleased to see Another Earth in the first batch of Sundance darlings to hit theaters. Captain America: The First Avenger and Friends with Benefits are also slotted for July 22. The synopsis:
In Another Earth, Rhoda Williams, a bright young woman accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs, has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined.