‘Masterminds’ Postponed Indefinitely

Boy, that Masterminds title feels so ironic now, huh?

It’s supposed to refer to the film’s characters, a bunch of bumbling criminals in the midst of a massive bank heist. But now it just seems like a commentary on the film’s distributor, Relativity Media, which filed for bankruptcy last month following months of massive financial woes. Masterminds was originally supposed to open in a little over a week, on August 19; the goal was to turn the high-profile comedy into this summer’s We’re the Millers. But the bankruptcy threw a very large wrench into that plan. First, Relativity bumped Masterminds back to October 9, but now Variety reports they’ve taken it off the release calendar completely, though in a statement they did claim they “expect to announce a new 2015 release date shortly.”

We’ll see about that. But this setback has to be a major disappointment for everyone involved with Masterminds, a list that includes an impressive roster of comedy talent. The main cast included Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, and Jason Sudeikis, alongside supporting players like Ken Marino, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. The screenplay was co-written by Eastbound & Down creators Danny McBride and Jody Hill, and the film’s director is Jared Hess, the man behind the cult comedy Napoleon Dynamite. That’s about as good a pedigree as any mainstream comedy in recent memory. And now its future is very much in doubt.

A movie with that many big names in front of and behind the camera will find a way to theaters somehow, either with Relativity or some other company. Hopefully that eventuality comes around sooner rather than later. And hopefully whoever takes the movie on from this point forward really is a mastermind of theatrical distribution. In the meantime, here’s the original trailer for Masterminds.