EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that the Gavin O’Connor-directed Ben Affleck movie The Way Back (ne Torrance) is jumping from its Oct. 18 release to March 6, 2020.

In the movie, Affleck stars as a former basketball all-star, who after struggling with addiction, attempts to comeback by becoming the coach of a disparate high school basketball team at his alma mater. We hear that test results for The Way Back were solid and that it’s a commercial film. On its new date, the adult-demo targeted The Way Back will have more breathing room versus the crowded fall marketplace. The March launch date also allows Warners to take advantage of the start of college basketball’s March Madness and promote it during that time during NCAA and NBA.

Those wide releases left standing on Oct. 18 is Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Sony’s Zombieland 2: Double Tap. On its new March date, The Way Back will face off against Disney/Pixar’s Onward and Paramount’s Dylan O’Brien adventure film Monster Problems.

Brad Ingelsby and O’Connor wrote The Way Back. Affleck, O’Connor, Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray, Ravi D. Mehta, and Jennifer Todd produce. Jason Cloth and Aaron L. Gilbert executive produce.

Warner Bros. has a full dance card for the autumn/winter, many titles which will be in the fall film festival troika. It all kicks off on Sept. 6 with New Line’s It: Chapter 2. This is followed by The Goldfinch on Sept. 13, The Joker on Oct. 4, Motherless Brooklyn on Nov. 1, Doctor Sleep on Nov. 8, New Line’s The Good Liar on Nov. 15, the New Line Melissa McCarthy action comedy Superintelligence on Dec. 20, and the death row drama Just Mercy on Christmas Day.