The Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending abruptly ascended all the way to next February

Less than seven weeks before the film’s scheduled July release, Warner Bros. has abruptly pushed the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending all the way to February 6, 2015—a move that would seem an ill omen even if it weren’t being dumped in the statistically determined shittiest month for movies. Still, the studio is putting a positive spin on it, saying the extra time is necessary for Andy and Lana Wachowski to complete the “more than 2,000 special effects shots” on this, their first wholly original project since The Matrix. But of course, when a film is bumped from such a prime summer date to the I, Frankenstein of winter, one can’t help but speculate about other factors—such as maybe poor test screenings, the studio’s fear of being overshadowed by other sci-fi epics like Guardians Of The Galaxy, or anxiety about 22 Jump Street contributing to Channing Tatum oversaturation. Or that someone finally got a look at the above photo of a goateed, guy-linered Tatum flying Mila Kunis around on a pair of hover-skates, presumably to a gig by his futuristic ska-punk band, Battlestar Galactiska.

Whatever the rationale behind the decision, those who have taken up the unusual cause of championing these directors of expensive, major studio blockbusters as iconoclastic underdogs now have another reason to root for the Wachowskis—as surely the movie has to be really weird to prompt this kind of last-minute decision. And those who already think Jupiter Ascending looks kind of silly now have another way in which to judge it preemptively. Everyone wins.