An American Pickle, a new comedy movie starring Seth Rogen, gets a new release date and an announcement that it will be skipping theaters. The movie is one of several to have its release plans shuffled around as titles like John Wick 4 have been delayed to 2022.
It was announced today that WarnerMedia has acquired the rights to An American Pickle and will be showing the film on the HBO Max streaming service on August 6, 2020. Sony, which sold the rights to WarnerMedia been planning to show the movie in theaters this year before COVID-19 prompted it to change its plans. With movie theaters around the United States having closed because of COVID-19, it isn't surprising to see that many companies are trying to cut their losses by selling the rights to movies.
An American Pickle stars Rogen as a 1920s laborer who falls into a vat of pickles, is brined for 100 years and emerges, not having aged. The character, named Herschel Greenbaum, meets his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, a computer coder who is also played by Rogen. The plot sounds ridiculous on paper, but it seems like HBO Max will have a diverse slate of content for subscribers to enjoy this summer as shows like Game of Thrones, and movie series like The Lord of the Rings will also be available.
The new Seth Rogen movie is unlikely to be the last affected by COVID-19. Universal chose to release Trolls World Tour digitally, making the movie skip theaters, which suggests that distributors will be quick to shift their schedules if they think it will make a movie more successful.
An American Pickle will be available on August 6, 2020 on HBO Max.
Source: Deadline