'The Help' moves up its release date to Aug. 10

It tends to be a healthy sign when a movie bumps up its release date, even by a couple of days, showing confidence in not just the film, but also the audience. That’s just what DreamWorks has done with its much-anticipated adaptation of the best-selling novel The Help, about the lives of black maids serving largely white families in pre-civil rights Mississippi.

Originally set for Friday, Aug. 12, the movie will now come out on Wednesday, Aug. 10, in the hope fans of the Kathryn Stockett book will turn out early and help build momentum through word-of-mouth leading into the weekend, according to a source at DreamWorks.

It stars Easy A‘s Emma Stone as a forward-thinking young journalist who decides to write a book about the lives of black maids, who are at once an integral part of the families employing them while also getting little respect as individuals in the racially divided South. Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis star as two of the maids, while Bryce Dallas Howard co-stars as a callous socialite scandalized by their revelations.

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