A Suggested release date for One For The Money

Not long age I posted a joyful article that the Stepanie Plum movie, One For The Money, was scheduled to be released July 08, 2011. There was a great rejoicing among the masses of fans that will flock to theathers across the country.

A couple of weeks later I heard Lionsgate had decided to move the date up to June 03 of this year. Before I got around to posting an update One For The Money was taken off the release list. I have a suggestion for what I think will be the perfect release date, but more on that later.

Before I could post the idea there was a new release date - January 27, 2012. I won't say I screamed myself horse, or threw and kicked things around the house, but the cats were hiding under the bed for hours. The problem is I have seen this before.

Some years back two movies , Capote and Infamous, were in production at the same time. Both were concerning the grizzly murders that inspired Truman Capote's best seller, In Cold Blood. They were filmed in a blizzard of publicity. I have no idea where Capote was shot but part of Infamous was filmed in Marlin, Texas - about 26 miles from HomePlace. To date it's the only time I was ever on screen with Sandra Bullock.

Other than bragging (Look at me - I'm in a movie!) the point is the race to finish the filming and post production was won by Capote. Infamous didn't want to go head to head or in Capote's recent wake. They delayed until the next year and may as well have gone straite to DVD, if they didn't. I never saw it in a theater.

Truth be told, I expect Stephanie Plum fans will come out in droves no matter when the movie is released. Delaying, for what ever reason, is pointless. Pallets of the new Stephanie Plum book are shipped to book stores all over the world each year for the release of the new adventure, serval per city. They not only fly off the shelves the day of release, but all the books sell well the rest of the year.

Helene and I always make a point of getting the Audio book. It cuts down on fisty cuffs over who reads the book first and elimates exchanges like "Have you got to the part ... DONTTELLMEDONTTELLMEDONTTELLME!"

So what could go wrong? Lionsgate could have dropped the ball and made a pitiful excuse of a movie. It has happened before with movies and TV shows.

In the 1980's fans of the comic series Jon Sable - Freelance were thrilled to hear a TV series based on those stories was planned. By the end of the first episode we knew the only requirement to work on the show was to have never read any of the comics. Imagine a politically correct mercenary who defends the weak and helpless - but doesn't want to shoot anybody. The comic book Jon Sable wasn't laughing I'm sure.

More recently the Dresden Files had a stab at being a TV show. While this series was certainly handled better there were departures from the books, both good and bad. The casting of Paul Blackthornne as Harry Dresden and Valerie Cruz as Murphy was not what many of us expected, but the actors did their parts well.

Bob the Skull became Terrance Mann whenever he spoke. At first I was livid, but being a person rather than a talking skull actually worked better for TV. I didn't recall Morgan being black in the books, but Conrad Coats made the part his own. I personally got a kick out of the Blue Beatle being replaced by the M-38 Willys Jeep.

On the other hand they had Harry living in a storefront that was also his office. This didn't have the feel of the basement apartment in the books. The story lines either went completly off the reservation or were crammed into a TV show time frame. Storm Front, one attempt to follow a book, suffered from the time allotted to tell the story. Harry's staff and blasting rod were replaced by a hockey stick and a drum stick? That's what you get when you cheap out and film in Canada. Hey - American who works in the film industry from time to time and doesn't have a sag card. I have issues!

I feel both Jon Sable and the Dresden Files would have transfered better to a movie formate. Saddly I don't think that is going to happen since the TV shows didn't work, either from poor execution or not being given a chance. Someone tell the genius that cancelled Firefly about Star Trek.

Well, climbing down from my soapbox, I will close by saying I don't think Lionsgate dropped the ball and made a pitiful movie. Even with the poor judgement refected in delaying the release date of One For The Money they have a good record. The cast they assembled are pros.

When One For The Money is finally released into movie theaters Stephanie Plum fans will come for miles. I expect there will be numerious repeat viewings, not unlike Star Wars, - if a touch less fanatic and with less body paint. Those sad souls who don't know who Stephanie Plum is will come alone if only to find out what all the ruckus is about. I am always shocked to see how many rabid Harry Potter fans have never read even one of the books.

In the beginning I said I had a suggested release date for Lionsgate. How about One For The Money coming to theaters on June 21, 2011? This is the same day Stephanie Plum's new adventure, Smokin' Seventeen, hits the bookstores.

So how about it Lionsgate? Ask your PR department if they could make anything out of that.