'Child 44' Announces Release Date: Tom Hardy Plays Soviet Cop Solving Child Murders, Co-stars with Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, And Vincent Casse, Directed By 'Safe House' Daniel Espinosa [PHOTO]

Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace's political thriller "Child 44 has announced a release date for April 2015.

"Child 44" is based on a thriller novel by  Tom Rob Smith, and features disgraced MGB Agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of gruesome child murders in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.

"Child 44" also stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine, Vincent Casse, and Jason Clarke. "Child 44" is directed by Daniel Espinosa from a script by Richard Price. Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Greg Shapiro produced.

According to The Wrap, Summit Entertainment has given the film the specific release date of April 17, 2015.

"Child 44" follows a member of the Soviet Union police in Stalanist Russia, played by Tom Hardy. As a member of the secret police he is framed by a colleague for treason and exiled to a remote outpost, where he unearths a series of mysterious murders and vows to catch the elusive killer. When he begins to investigate a series of child murders he finds it is connected to high-up members of a political party.

Some are wondering if the April release date means Lionsgate thinks the movie is a flop Edward Davis of indiewire.com writes, "Lionsgate/Summit have announced a date for the film and its April 17, 2015. Sure, that's in the heart of smart indie season (see "Only Lovers Left Alive," "Under The Skin" and "Enemy" from this year), but to date the movie before the fall film festival (where we presume it will premiere) season seems... a little odd. Clearly, "Child 44" is not being seen as a contender, and we'd wager probably plays as more a genre piece than anything or the studio doesn't believe it has the weight to swing with the bigger movies coming this fall."

"Child 44″ opens against Sony's "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2″ and Focus' sci-fi movie "Selfless."