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Another Delay for Tom Cruise and Valkyrie

Tom Cruise, ValkyrieRight now, is somewhere hoping the third time really is a charm.

After initially receiving a June 27 release date, the actor’s next film is now scheduled to open next year.  That’s after Valkyrie had already been pushed back to the fall for production reasons.

Although an October premiere might have been given the film Oscar consideration, the studio claims the new Feb. 13th slot will be in the best interest of the WWII drama.  That decision will allow Cruise to take advantage of the President’s Day weekend.

Two films once slated for that same 2009 date have since made other plans (The Pink Panther 2, The Wolfman).  While these departures may have allowed Valkyrie to slip right in, that Friday will still have stiff competition.  Confessions of a Shopaholic (starring ) and the latest version of Friday the 13th will also be fighting for audience dollars.

Directed by Bryan Singer, Valkyrie also stars Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh and .

Read More |

Variety


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Netflix Outage Should Result in Only Minor Delay

Netflix logoIf you experienced the breakdown Monday on Netflix’s site between about 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST, you will be happy to know that you were one of 7.5 million users that went through frustration when you couldn’t get your movie fix. The company says that there may be a delay in orders by a day and may credit some accounts to make up for the problem. This is the second time the site has been down, the first occurring last July when the Netflix lowered its prices.

(Thanks, Mike)

Read More | USA Today

UPDATE: ‘The Kite Runner’ Delayed Due to Controversial Scene

The Kite RunnerAs reported earlier, controversy surrounding a violent scene threatened the big-screen premiere of The Kite Runner.  The adaptation of the popular Khaled Hosseini novel will now be delayed six weeks.

The family of the young Afghan actor raped in the film wanted the segment removed because it would be considered culturally offensive.  They feared they would become victims of retaliation in their own country once the movie premiered.  The family claims 12-year-old Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada would never have participated in the production had they been given a script and/or advance warning of the scene.

Although director (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) and the producers all insist Ahmad’s father was briefed on the situation, they have expressed concern for those involved.  In hopes of retaining the crucial scene—and because of increased violence in Kabul—Paramount Vantage is finalizing plans to temporarily move Ahmad and two other actors out of the country.  The movie, originally slated for a Nov. 2nd release, will now be released on Dec. 14th…. several days after the boys finish school.  It’s believed they may return sometime in March—after their summer vacation ends and the movie dust clears.  This decision appears to be something Ahmad’s father is comfortable with.

The movie’s new premiere date will now pit it against another highly-anticipated film, I Am Legend.

Read More | USA Today

Unreal Tournament 3 For PlayStation 3 Delayed Until 2008

Unreal Tournament 3

Midway announced today in a press release that the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3, originally scheduled to release with the PC version this November as a timed console exclusive, isn’t expected to be released until the first quarter of 2008. David F. Zucker, president and CEO of Midway, said he regretted having to lose the holiday sales from the delays but said, “[W]e remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle.”

Developer Epic Games’ Mark Rein said in a forum post that the press release included UT3 as an obligation to investors and said that he was still optimistic about a 2007 release, but that they wouldn’t ship until the game was ready and “the best game (they could) deliver.” He also confirmed that the PC version, due out in November, was still on schedule to ship as planned.

Read More | Midway Press Release via Joystiq


Mercenaries 2 Delayed Until 2008

Description

EA‘s upcoming open-world game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is being pushed back until 2008, further relaxing the pressure on a still crowded holiday season for games. Speaking to developer Pandemic Studios President Josh Resnick, IGN coaxed out a few more details:

We’re adding nothing at this point. Our only goal is to make gamers proud that they own a copy of Mercenaries 2 by making the highest quality next-gen open-world experience the world has ever seen. If that sounds ambitious, then you should see how many cans of caffeine our programming guys have choked down during the past two years of development.

Resnick also complimented Rockstar and said that he wasn’t concerned about competing with Grand Theft Auto IV because, as he puts it, “We know gamers are bloodhounds when it comes to sniffing out a quality gameplay experience, and we’re hoping that scent leads them directly to Mercenaries 2.” He said they were using the extra time to focus on fixing bugs, tuning the physics and working on the mission structures.

The delay was initial rumored because retail outlets adjusted their release dates from late ‘07 to 2008, forcing Pandemic and EA to confirm the delay. Commenting on the leak, Resnick said, “Those dang sneaky retailers! You just can’t seem to keep a lid on something once they hear about it.”

Read More | IGN

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Narnia Film Delayed

AslanProduction has been delayed on the third Narnia movie installment The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Originally scheduled to hit theatres May 1, 2009, the movie now won’t be released until May 7, 2010. Production was supposed to begin this January, but has now been pushed to next summer. The delay has been attributed to the young stars of the film, as execs are saying it’s very challenging to work out scheduling difficulties. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second flick in the franchise, was supposed to be released this December. It won’t be out until May.

Read More | Yahoo! News

Unreal Engine Under Fire Again

unreal engine banner

First, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games, alleging that Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 had done “serious damage” to SK’s long-delayed Too Human.  Later, Epic fired back with a countersuit, in which Epic claimed that wanted to use the engine without paying for it.

Now, longtime Epic partner Digital Extremes, in the middle of development of its similarly delayed Dark Sector project, has come forth with its own complaints.  Game director Steve Sinclair explained, “A lot of promises were made about the Unreal III engine, particularly on PS3. But as we see now, the time frames haven’t been met and now a lot of games using it are being held up.”

Now that two developers are on the record about problems with Unreal Engine 3, we wouldn’t be surprised to see loads of developers come out of the woodwork with similar grievances, both real and imagined.  The situation is likely to become ugly really soon.

Read More | http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=170446

Wii Supply Problems May Not Be Fixed This Year

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,

Manufacturing

Despite being much harder to find throughout the year in retail outlets than the competitor’s next-gen console hardware, ‘s may not see much improvement in availability until sometime in 2008. Nintendo originally planned to expand their production in June but were forced to delay their expansion plans due to tight supply of certain components coming from Taiwan-based suppliers.

Wii units are certainly far more available than they were shortly after launch but that may be related to the comparatively lighter demand; with the 2007 holiday season fast approaching and key titles like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl expected before Christmas, this could mean another tough Christmas on shoppers with Wii systems high on their lists.

Still, Nintendo has not backed down on projections made in April of this year and in a statement to GameSpot said, “Nintendo has no revisions to announce to its most recent shipment forecasts at this time.” They originally predicted that they would sell 14 million Wiis this fiscal year.

Read More | DigiTimes via GameSpot


Age of Conan Delayed Until ‘08

age of conan

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Funcom’s highly anticipated PC/ online RPG, is bowing out of the crowded Fall ‘07 release window.  Based on the press release, it sounds like given the scale of the game, the development team just needed more time to polish and perfect the experience.

“We naturally regret that we have to push back ‘Age of Conan’. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom.

You have to respect a developer that delays a game to make it better, and doesn’t just shove it out the door for the sake of the company’s shareholders.  At any rate, MMO players can now look forward to slashing their way through the world and characters of Robert E. Howard on March 25th, 2008.

Read More | Kotaku

Breaking: Grand Theft Auto IV Delayed Into 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV logo

In some rather surprising (and extremely disappointing) news, Take-Two has announced that it is reducing its fiscal 2007 guidance due to Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 being delayed until fiscal 2008. Currently, GTA IV is set for release in the second fiscal quarter of ’08. Take Two’s second fiscal quarter runs from February 1, 2008 to April 30, 2008. The delay is due to additional time required to finish developing the game.

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, stated, “With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms. We all recognize that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game’s millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology.”

Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, added, “The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits. The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game’s fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience.”


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