Check out Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy last night at the Hollywood premiere of This Means War.

This Means War was supposed to open on Tuesday, Valentine’s Day. But according to Nikki Finke at Deadline, the tracking has apparently been sh-t. And the tracking for The Vow with Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum is only getting stronger. Really strong. So the studio decided just a few days ago, very late, that This Means War will be pushed back until February 17th. There will be a few sneak previews happening on Tuesday, the original date of release, but the official open will now be next Friday.

Finke is describing this move as something of a capitulation, a concession that The Vow has won. And she seems surprised by this, given that - in her opinion - the Witherspoon/Pine/Hardy casting combination is equally as exciting as McAdams/Tatum and that trailers for This Means War don’t look so bad.

What is it then?

Is it, as Sarah wrote several months ago, that audiences won’t buy Reese in a role that requires her to be sexy?

Is it that Channing Tatum’s continually impressive fame game has easily eclipsed Chris Pine and Tom Hardy?

Or is it simply that the female audience can’t wait to go to a movie to cry their eyes out - see Sasha.

True Love Overcoming Memory Loss > Two Dudes Fighting Over Reese Witherspoon???

Here’s what sucks for Reese though - if This Means War is not a success, she’s the one who’ll eat it the hardest. Her co-stars will likely escape unscathed and the days of her $15 million paycheque... well... I mean, there are a lot of others who cost a lot less.

It’s a very, very interesting time for Reese’s career. A very, very critical time for Reese’s career. She knows this. As evidenced by the fact that...

She just launched her own website.

I’ll let you swallow that for a minute.

Reese posts pics of Reese on ReeseWitherspoon.com. She promotes her movies. She shows you how much fun she has with her friends, like Chelsea Handler. She wants to get close to you! She wants you to get close to her! And since the site is part of the WhoSay platform, yes, she’ll be making money off it too.

This is Hollywood reality now. Some stars have to close the gap between themselves and the fans. It’s not just GOOP anymore. Have we forced them to approach us? Have we forced them to decrease the distance between celebrity and civilian? If that’s the case, why do I disdain the effort?

I don’t want my Movie Stars to be my neighbours. I don’t want my Movie Stars to kiss my ass on their blogs, pretend to want to be my friend. I want my Movie Stars removed and out of reach. So I can sh-t on them for acting superior...?

But can you imagine, gulp, George Clooney bending over for you on the internet with his own Facebook page? Or The Brange? Never. They would never, right? That’s why they’re on that level, right? Or one day, will we push them there too?

See? There’s no shortage of material at the Faculty of Celebrity Studies: Evolution or Devolution? The Democratisation of Celebrity - a 4th year course.