Paramount Classics has shifted the release date for Craig Brewer's "Hustle & Flow" to July 22nd, from its July 13th spot. In an email exchange with indieWIRE today, Paramount Classics co-president David Dinerstein said that the move is to take advantage of positive critical and audience response, allowing the company to schedule public sneak previews of the film on Saturday, July 16th. It will open on 1,000 screens nationwide on July 22nd, Dinerstein told indieWIRE.
"It was clear at Sundance that 'Hustle & Flow' is a crowd-pleasing movie that breaks boundaries; everybody can relate to this movie," Dinerstein said via email. His company partnered with MTV Films to acquire the movie just hours after its Sundance premiere, as part of a $16 million deal, one of the largest in the history of the fest.
A few days later in Park City, Dinerstein and co-president Ruth Vitale inked a mulit-million dollar deal for the doc, "Mad Hot Ballroom" at Slamdance. Now in its 7th week of release that film has earned more than #3 million and Dinerstein told indieWIRE that he will expand the film to 200 screens this weekend, adding that the film, "has exceeded our wildest expectations."
