Has anything like this ever happened in the history of modern major filmmaking?

Sure, movies get pushed back all the time, but we are literally a month away from the June 29th release date for GI Joe: Retaliation, the Dwayne Johnson/Bruce Willis starring sequel in the action figure based movie franchise.  But with the promotional movements already in place, toys already in stores, Paramount announced today that the movie will instead be released on March 29th, 2013.

What’s the reasoning?  The official story is that Paramount wishes to convert the movie for 3D distribution, as 3D films have been received very strong internationally over the past year.  But that doesn’t make sense to me. That’s a decision you make in the MONTHS leading up to the release, not in the days.

So what could it be really? Does The Avengers scare them? Are they worried about getting lost opposite of The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises? Does Paramount want Dwayne to promote the movie at the next Wrestlemania? Are they scared by how poorly Battleship did? Or is the movie just a steaming bag of crap?

Whatever the reason, we won’t know for sure until the movie comes out next year.

Not surprisingly, a studio has now “stolen” the weekend, with Universal moving the Seth MacFarlane directed Ted into the June 29th, 2012 release spot.

The full press release for the move appears below. Do you really believe them?

Hasbro, Inc (NASDAQ:HAS — News), and Paramount Pictures, announced today that G.I. JOE: RETALIATION will now be released in 3D. The film, originally slated for release in June 2012, is scheduled to be released March 29, 2013.

“It is increasingly evident that 3D resonates with movie-goers globally and together with Paramount, we made the decision to bring fans an even more immersive entertainment experience,“ said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s President and CEO.

“In 2012, we continue to have several strong motion picture and television entertainment backed properties that are selling well at retail and our entertainment strategy remains strong and on-track,“ Goldner said. “Through our own Hasbro Studios for television and in partnership with several movie studios including Paramount, Universal, Sony and Relativity, we are creating entertainment experiences around many of our highly popular iconic brands. For the full year 2012, we continue to believe, absent the impact of foreign exchange, we will again grow revenues and earnings per share.“