Sundance hit 'Fruitvale' to land in theaters in July, not October

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Audrey Napoleon arrives for the premiere of “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.” (George Frey / EPA)

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Actress Jane Lynch and director-writer Jill Soloway arrive for the premiere of “Afternoon Delight.” (George Frey / EPA)

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Evan Rachel Wood, a cast member in “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman,” greets fans. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP)

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British actress Juno Temple arrives for the premiere of “Afternoon Delight.” (George Frey / EPA)

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Shia LaBeouf, a cast member in the film “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman,” poses for an iPhone photo. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP)

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Dave Grohl and David Gordon Green at the Cinema Cafe. (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

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Ex-CIA operatives Marty Martin, left, and Nada Bakos, director Greg Barker and ex-CIA operative Cynthia Storer contributed to the film “Manhunt.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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“The Way, Way Back” actors Toni Collette, left, Sam Rockwell and Maya Rudolph. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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“Ghost Team One” actress Meghan Falcone. (Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Wonderwall)

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Meghan Falcone, Tony Cavalero and Fernanda Romero of “Ghost Team One,” a “Paranormal Activity” spoof premiering at Slamdance. (Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Wonderwall)

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Kaya Scodelario from the film “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Nick Robinson, left, and Erin Moriarty from the film “Toy House.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Actress Ahna O’Reilly, whose film “Fruitvale” premiered at Sundance last week. (Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Wonderwall)

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Actor Michael Urie is previewing his directing debut, “He’s Way More Famous Than You,” at the festival. (Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Wonderwall)

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“Toy House” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Johnathan Tchaikovsky from the film “Concussion.” (Taylor Jewell / Invision/ AP )

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Francesca Gregorini, director of “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Actor Michael Kenneth Williams, whose in the film “Luv,” in competition at the festival. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Actress Rooney Mara’s film “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” had its premiere at the festival. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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From the film “In a World ...,” actors, clockwise from top left, Tig Notaro, Ken Marino, Alexandra Holden, Fred Melamed, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Lake Bell (who also directs) and Demetri Martin. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Actors Bret McKenzie, Georgia King, Ricky Whittle and JJ Feild. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Actresses Elisabeth Moss, left, and Holly Hunter talk at the Sundance Channel celebration. (Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images)

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Mia Wasikowska, left, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode and Chan-Wook Park attend the “Stoker” premiere. (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

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Daniel Radcliffe from the film “Kill Your Darlings.” (Victoria Will / Invision / Associated Press)

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Co-writer and actress Julie Delpy poses at the premiere of “Before Midnight.” (Danny Moloshok / Associated Press)

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At the premiere of “Running From Crazy,” actress Mariel Hemingway is flanked by boyfriend Bobby Williams and her daughter Langley Hemingway. Producer and director Barbara Kopple is far right. (Danny Moloshok / Associated Press)

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Actor Aden Young watches magician David Blaine perform card tricks. (Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images)

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Kaya Scodelario, left, Alfred Molina and director Francesca Gregorini of the film “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.” (Victoria Will / Invision / Associated Press)

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Tyler Ross, left, Georgia Ford, Shareeka Epps, David Andalman, Mariko Munro and Eshan Bay from the film “Milkshake.” (Victoria Will / Invision / Associated Press)

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Rutger Hauer from the film “Il Futuro.” (Victoria Will / Invision / Associated Press)

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Actress Jane Lynch warms up and checks out Wii U at the Nintendo Lounge. (Donald Traill / Invision for Nintendo)

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David Gordon Green, center, writer-director of “Prince Avalanche,” with cast members Paul Rudd, left, and Emile Hirsch. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

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Stephanie Meyer from the film “Austenland.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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David Lowery, second from left, writer-director of “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” with cast members Ben Foster, from left, Rooney Mara, Nate Parker and Casey Affleck. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

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Jonny Kaplan, Darryl Hanah and Rami Jaffe perform at the Eco Hideaway. (Danny Moloshok / Associated Press)

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Jane Seymour, left, James Callis, Ricky Whittle and Georgia King from “Austenland.” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Elisabeth Moss from “Top of the Lake” (Victoria Will / Associated Press)

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt, left, and Tony Danza from “Don Jon’s Addiction” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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Director Zal Batmanglij, left, actors Ellen Page, Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgard of the film “The East.” (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Cathy Schulman, left, president, Women In Film, Documentary Film Program, Sundance Film Festival, Cara Mertes and moderator Lucy Webb attend the Women In Film’s Sundance Filmmakers Panel. (Mark Davis / Getty Images)

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“This Is Martin Bonner” writer-director Chad Hartigan, left, and actors Sam Buchanan, Richmond Arquette, Demetrius Grosse and Paul Eenhoorn. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Holly Hunter, from the film “Top of the Lake” (Victoria Will / Invision / AP)

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“The Lifeguard” actors Alex Shaffer, left, Mamie Gummer, David Lambert, Kristen Bell, Martin Starr, Paulie Litt, writer-director Liz W. Garcia and actor Joshua Harto. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Actress Mamie Gummer visits the Urban Decay makeup station at the Fender Music lodge during the Sundance Film Festival. (Jack Dempsey / Associated Press)

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“Running from Crazy” actress Mariel Hemingway, left, Langley Fox Hemingway and director Barbara Kopple. (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Actress and cat lover AnnaLynne McCord debuts a cat-inspired hat to benefit the ASPCA at the Fresh Step Catdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. (Mark Davis / Getty Images)

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Attendees of “Catdance” sit among cat-inspired spoofs of movie posters at the Sundance Film Festival. (Nekesa Mumbi Moody / AP)

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Randy Moore, director of “Escape From Tomorrow” (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Bill Pullman is flanked by Cherien Dabis, third from right, writer, director and star of “May in the Summer,” and cast members, from left, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf and Ritu Singh Pande at the premiere of the film on the opening night of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

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Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Film Festival, attend Artist at the Table, a benefit for the Sundance Institute.

(Mark Davis / Getty Images)

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Actress-singer Jennifer Hudson and singer Alicia Keys, right, at a volunteer screening of “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete.” (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

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Cast member Michael Cera at the premiere of “Crystal Fairy.”

(Danny Molosho / Invision / AP)

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Fashion designer Kenneth Cole, executive producer of HBO Documentary Films’ “The Battle of amfAR,” at a screening of the film. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press )

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Actor and festival founder Robert Redford, left, Executive Director of the Sundance Institute Kerry Putman and Sundance Festival Director John Cooper attend a news conference at the start of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (George Frey / EPA)

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People and news crews walk Old Main Street at the start of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. (George Frey / EPA)

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A moviegoer leaves the ticket box office during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Danny Moloshok / Invision / AP)

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Posters for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival are up along Main Street. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A sign welcomes visitors to the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Danny Moloshok / Invision / AP)

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Peter Mayhew, technical director of the Egyptian Theatre, shovels snow off the marquee before the start of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Two days before the start of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, people pass the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

By Amy Kaufman

April 5, 2013 6 AM PT

The critical darling of this year’s Sundance Film Festival will arrive in theaters sooner than expected.

“Fruitvale,” which won the festival’s Grand Jury and Audience awards in January, is set to hit the big screen on July 26 -- three months before it was initially slated to debut at the box office. The Weinstein Co., which purchased the drama for $2 million at Sundance, quietly changed the film’s release date last month.

Starring newcomer Michael B. Jordan, “Fruitvale” is based on the 2009 shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, an African American who was killed by a BART transit police officer in Oakland. The movie received rave reviews when it screened at Sundance, inspiring early Oscar buzz. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who had his directorial debut “Don Jon’s Addiction” play at this year’s fest, tweeted this after seeing the film:

#Fruitvale Best Picture 2013 #Oscar #Sundance— Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitRECordJoe) January 24, 2013

The move to July is somewhat unconventional, given that award-season contenders are typically released between October and the end of the year. Eight of the nine best picture nominees at the 2013 Academy Awards hit theaters during that three-month time period, and the only Oscar contender that came out earlier in 2012 was “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” another Sundance favorite that debuted in June.

The Weinstein Co. is no doubt hoping to replicate the success of “Beasts” -- which also earned an Oscar nod for director Benh Zeitlin and actress Quvenzhané Wallis -- or other past rare summertime critical darlings like “Little Miss Sunshine” or “Midnight in Paris.”
“We want to take advantage of the counterprogram slot in the summer,” said Erik Lomis, the independent studio’s head of theatrical distribution. “It’s a very powerful movie and it has a chance to catch the zeitgeist in a more effective way. And there are certainly plenty of films that have come out in the summer that have gotten end-of-year accolades.”

ALSO:

Sundance 2013: Weinstein Co. buys ‘Fruitvale’

Sundance 2013: ‘Fruitvale’ wins Grand Jury Prize

Sundance 2013: Ryan Coogler on pain, passion in making ‘Fruitvale’