From Variety comes word that Lionsgate -- perhaps realizing the box-office power of the first film ever to achieve the elusive marketing overlap of Christian Bale fans, Russell Crowe fans, and unkempt cowboys -- will be moving director James Mangold's "3:10 to Yuma" up on the release schedule.

The Bale/Crowe-led Western, originally targeted for October, will now be released September 7.

Aside from giving ranchers and rustlers a reason to celebrate, the move allows Lionsgate to jockey ahead in the ever-earlier "fall prestige market," in which films ostensibly too complex and quiet for summer moviegoers are crammed into cineplexes in a frantic bid for awards consideration.



And if "crammed" sounds too strong, consider that, in addition to "Yuma," fall's predestined contenders include the Brad Pitt-led "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," the Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men," Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah," Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises," Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," and Peter Berg's "The Kingdom."

Source: Variety