“Ricki and the Flash,” the rock and roll comedy directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Meryl Streep, will be released on June 26, 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment said Tuesday.
The studio also set Oct. 2, 2015 as the release date for an untitled film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as wire-walker Philippe Petit. It’s based on his memoir, “To Reach the Clouds.”
They’re the first two films from Tom Rothman’s TriStar Productions.
Also read: Meryl Streep to Star in Jonathan Demme Movie Written by Diablo Cody (Exclusive)
“Ricki and the Flash,” which is written by Diablo Cody and produced by Marc Platt and Mason Novick, is the story of a rock ‘n’ roll-loving woman who chased her dreams at the cost of her family, but gets a chance to put things right.
Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon and James Badge Dale co-star in the adventure movie about Petit, the aerialist who in 1974 walked a high-wire between New York’s World Trade Center Towers. The walk was the subject of the award-winning 2008 documentary “Man on Wire.”
The film was shot in photo-realistic 3D film and will be released in IMAX theaters. Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Chris Browne and produced with Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke. Jackie Levine and Cherylanne Martin executive produce.
Also read: Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Play Philippe Petit in Robert Zemeckis’ ‘To Reach the Clouds’
The last weekend in June is the same one that in 2006 launched Streep’s “The Devil Wears Prada,” which turned into a hit for Rothman at Fox and grossed $325 million worldwide. It was successful counter-programming against “Superman Returns,” but “Ricki and the Flash” will face a different sort of challenge — going up against Universal’s “Ted 2.”
“These are auspicious dates with a great history,” said Jeff Blake, chairman, worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures. “We are confident that summer moviegoers will respond to another classic Meryl Streep character, and in the fall, as we saw with ‘Gravity’ on this same date, the first weekend in October is prime real estate for a visually-stunning 3D experiential film.”
The Petit project will be up against Fox’s “Frankenstein” and “London Has Fallen” from Focus Features.