'The Woman In The Window' With Amy Adams Pushed To 2020 After Test Screenings Confused Audiences

Disney is still sifting through the movies they acquired in the purchase of 20th Century Fox. While some projects, like Wes Ball's adaptation of the fantasy adventure The Mouse Guard, have been set aside by the House of Mouse, others are in the midst of moving towards a release. However, one of those projects need to be retooled a bit before it's ready for audiences.

The Woman in the Window is an adaptation of A.J. Finn's best-selling novel of the same name that Fox 2000 had been working on before Disney bought Fox. The film is an adult thriller directed by Joe Wright (Atonement) and starring Amy Adams that had been positioned as a possible awards contender with a release set for this fall. But apparently early test screenings confused audiences too much, and now the movie will undergo reshoots to make the central mystery easier to understand. But that means Fox/Disney have opted to delay The Woman in the Window until 2020.

For those who haven't heard of The Woman in the Window, here's the synopsis:

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother, their teenaged son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn't, her world begins to crumble and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler, who has remained at the studio for the time being during the transition to Disney, admitted that the film faltered at the test audience phase (via The Hollywood Reporter):

"We're dealing with a complex novel. We tested the movie really early for that very reason. We wanted to make it better, and we've had Disney's full support in doing that."

I've heard from a few who have read the book that the story itself is rather unbelievable, not unlike other recent adult thrillers like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and A Simple Favor. But that's also exactly what makes some of these movies so entertaining in the end.

But this particular film was confusing enough that Joe Wright will now oversee five days of reshoots that will hopefully help fix this issue for general audiences. The reshoots will take place once Amy Adams has finished shooting the Netflix movie Hillbilly Elegy with Ron Howard. As for what the new 2020 release date will be, that remains to be seen. Will Disney wait until next awards season to release the film, or will they place it in February or March instead? We shall see.