That 'Tom and Jerry' Movie Everyone is Dying to See Has Moved From April 2021 to December 2020

The people have stormed the gates of Warner Bros., pitchforks in hand, demanding to see the Tom and Jerry movie sooner rather than later. “Give us that murderous cat and the annoying rodent he wants to eat!” cried the teeming masses. “We can wait no longer! We thirst for live-action movies based on nearly 80-year-old cartoons!” To quell the riot, Warner Bros. has moved the Tom and Jerry movie release date from April 2021 to December 2020. We can all sleep easy now.

Tom and Jerry was originally supposed to arrive in theaters on April 16, 2021, but it’s now moved up to December 23, 2020. That’s a significant jump, but Forbes explains there’s a method to this madness. Warner Bros. might be nervous that their other big Christmas 2020 movie, Dune, could falter at a bit at the box office. If it isn’t a big hit, they’re hoping Tom and Jerry will pick up the slack. Because I guess people who don’t care for sci-fi epics would be happier to watch a CGI cat and mouse. Or as the Forbes piece puts it:

Warner Bros. is slotting the comparatively low-risk and family-friendly Tom & Jerry five days after Dune in case Dune underperforms or outright tanks. Since the demos don’t overlap, it’s a risk-free strategy. If Dune hits it big, then Tom & Jerry should still be okay. And if Dune stumbles, then Tom & Jerry will mitigate the damage.

Dune is going to generate a lot of buzz, and it features a big, sexy cast –  Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa – but it’s not a sure thing. It’s a big-budget epic based on a sprawling novel, and while plenty of people love that novel, it’s not exactly a strong “brand” name. Besides, David Lynch tried to adapt Dune once before, and the results didn’t go over too well. Denis Villeneuve is directing Dune, and there appears to be some concern that Dune might follow in the footsteps of his Blade Runner 2049: a movie that critics and film nerds loved, but general audiences avoided like the plague.

Warners has a lot riding on Dune. It’s supposed to be the first of a two-part movie. There’s also a spin-off TV show in the works. The movie was supposed to open November 2020, but Warners shuffled it to December to avoid competing with Eternals.

As for Tom and Jerry, well…I’m sure someone out there wants to see it. Tim Story is directing, and the cast includes Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, and Rob Delaney. In the film, “Tom the Cat and Jerry Mouse getting kicked out of their home and relocating to a fancy New York hotel. A scrappy hustler named Kayla has taken a job there, but she will lose her employment if she can’t evict Jerry before a high-class wedding at the hotel. Her solution? Hiring piano playing Tom to get rid of the pesky mouse.”

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