Peter Bogdanovich’s (The Last Picture Show) comedy She’s Funny That Way, which had its premiere at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, is moving off of its announced May 1st U.S. release date. The film, starring Owen Wilson (No Escape), Imogen Poots (Green Room) and Jennifer Aniston (Cake), has been bounced around the calendar a few times and will now be landing on a new date, as yet to be announced.
She’s Funny That Way is a screwball comedy featuring Wilson as a married theater director who is compelled by his producers to hire his young escort (Poots) for a role in his upcoming play. Complications ensue, as his wife happens to be the star of the play. Aniston portrays Poots’ therapist, who also has ties to the production through her playwright husband (Rhys Ifans).
The film had a long gestation period, with Bogdanovich and co-writer Louise Stratton having written the script in 1998 under the title Squirrel to the Nuts. An early attempt to bring it to the screen with Cybill Sheppard and John Ritter was jettisoned after the untimely death of Ritter in 2003.
The May 1st weekend will most assuredly be dominated by the blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron, so the placement of Bogdanovich’s film on this date always seemed like a classic case of counter-programming. It’s possible that distributor Clarius Entertainment began to fear that Marvel’s latest will prove to be so universally appealing as to include even the more sophisticated older audiences that normally opt for fare like She’s Funny That Way. Whatever the case, a new release date for She’s Funny is expected to be announced shortly, perhaps as early as next week. Meanwhile, check out the trailer below.