Warner Bros Announces Release Date for Jackie Robinson Biopic

Chadwick Boseman to play Jackie Robinson in "42"

*Warner Bros. has set a tentative date for the release of “42,” the Jackie Robinson biopic being made with Legendary Pictures.

The Brian Helgeland-directed film will open April 12, 2013, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The release is timed to coincide with Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day, held every April 15 to commemorate the date in 1947 when Robinson broke the MLB color barrier by playing his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

As previously reported, Chadwick Boseman is portraying Robinson, and Harrison Ford is playing Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who signed Robinson.

42 is set to start production May 14 in Birmingham, Ala. It also will shoot in Atlanta and Macon, Ga., as well as Chattanooga, Tenn. The city’s Engel Stadium will double for Brooklyn’s long-gone Ebbets Field.

The April 12 date pits the movie against Tri-Star’s “Evil Dead” remake.