Fable moves 'Gods Don't Give Gifts' to Dec. 4 and plans Oscar bid

Fable has pushed the U.S. release of 'Gods Don't Give Gifts' back by five weeks, from Oct. 30 to Dec. 4, and will chase a place in the Oscars race, according to Variety.

The film is a collection of four anthology shorts — separate short stories packaged as one release — by Gossip Goblin, the working name of creator Zack London, Variety reported on Oct. 6.

Fable is led by chief executive Edward Saatchi. The company is handling the rollout in the United States, with a December date that lands the film in the busy holiday corridor when theatres fill with year-end releases.

The next beat is visibility. The trailer will debut in theatres on Friday, and the poster will go up across U.S. multiplexes, according to Variety. That is a conventional theatrical play: trailer first, one-sheet in lobbies, then the slow build to opening weekend.

Alongside the date move, Fable plans to submit the film for consideration in the Best Animated Feature category at the upcoming Oscars, the Academy Awards prize for animated films.

The campaign will include advance screenings for Academy voters, pre-release screenings for critics, and a billboard advertising run across Los Angeles next month, Variety reported. Voter screenings are a standard part of awards season, giving the people who decide nominations and winners an early look.

For fans, this means a longer wait. The trailer on the big screen comes first. The film itself now arrives in early December.