'Hansel & Gretel' Books Date With Imax, Moves Two Weeks to Jan. 25

The release of Paramount and MGM's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D -- starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton and Famke Janseen -- is being pushed back two weeks to Jan. 25 in order to also play in Imax theaters.

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Hansel & Gretel will kick off Imax's 2013 schedule.

“The Imax experience continues to be the most immersive and entertaining way to see films and we are thrilled to be releasing Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D now in late January so moviegoers have an opportunity to see the film in this way,” said Megan Colligan, Paramount president of domestic marketing and distribution.

Chairman and president of Imax Filmed Entertainment Greg Foster said the film's action and visuals are a perfect fit for the format.

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Prods. and Beau Flynn are producing Hansel & Gretel, which picks up the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 15 years after Hansel and Gretel found the gingerbread house. They're now bounty hunters. Tommy Wirkola directed and wrote.

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Pushing back the film's release by two weeks is a minor move compared to the studio's earlier decision to relocate the film's opening in theaters from March 2012 to Jan. 11, 2013.

The reasons for the first move were twofold: Paramount wanted more time to market the film's 3D aspect, while Renner had two other 2012 films, The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy. Pushing back Hansel & Gretel allowed the movie to benefit from the exposure Renner earned from those two films.