BATTLE: LOS ANGELES gets exciting new release date
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES gets exciting new release date
May 24
Battle: Los Angeles sounds like a good old-fashioned military sci-fi flick, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since 1997′s Starship Troopers. It’s got aliens, warfare, gritty realism, and aliens. Did I mention the aliens?
Originally slated for a February 2011 release, Battle has been pushed back to March (the 11th, to be precise.) This is apparently quite exciting, because while February is something of a graveyard month, where studios send their movies to die, March (particularly the 11th) is the time 300 was released, and managed to drum up mass profit.
I don’t know if this has something to do with US school or uni breaks, or the pre-Easter cinema lull, but I’m pretty sure 300 did good business because everyone loved it and told their friends to see it. If you released a Twilight movie in February, it would do mammoth business; if you released a Woody Allen movie on the best day of the year, somewhere in June or July or whatever, it would still tank. It’s as much about the movie in question as it is the release date.
Anyway, enough of my jibber-jabber, here’s a small slab of text describing what goes on in Battle: Los Angeles:
When unknown forces put the City of Angels under attack, it’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to come to the rescue. As the invasion hits the streets of L.A., the Marines become our first and last line of defense against a highly powerful enemy. Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) co-star alongside an ensemble cast including Ramon Rodriguez and Ne-Yo.
Studio Sony is more interested in name-dropping than plot, apparently, but I guess the vague ambiguity of the above synopsis will help keep intact the bubble of surprise that this film is cultivating. Aaron Eckhart is a fine actor, and what I can remember of everyone else is pretty good too, so I’m sure the characters are in good hands. Jonathon Liebesman is in the director’s chair, and while his earlier horror stuff was poorly received, his 2009 sundance film The Killing Room made more of a positive impression on critics. This bodes well for Battle.
One last thought: the “Battle of Los Angeles” is an event well-known in ufology circles, and I wonder whether Battle: Los Angeles’ premise was inspired by that supposedly real-life occurrence? Regardless of all that, it’s about time we got a thumping good, gritty, real-time alien war movie. Bring it on.
