We’re just back at work and the talk out there is already on the Summer block buster schedule! Well, I’m back at work at least…hence why I’m writing this, anyway!
Yahoo have the news from Variety of the planned release schedule which will pitch War of the Worlds against Fantastic Four.
Hollywood has crammed the schedule with so many releases that, if you’re still trying searching for a date for your blockbuster, the only open weekend left is Aug. 26.
Judging by John’s previous post I don’t think this bodes too well for the Four. If the furious rework going on just now is anything to go by, the movie may not be of the calibre to stand up against the Spielberg movie. Still, the talk is that Worlds is really pushing their FX schedule and may slip.
The battles start in May, but the most closely watched game of release-date chicken comes over the July 4 weekend when Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise (news) sci-fi pic “War of the Worlds” is skedded to open against comicbook adaptation “The Fantastic Four.”…
…Last April, Fox planted its flag on Fourth of July weekend for “Fantastic Four.” Then in August, Paramount announced it was co-producing with DreamWorks the Spielberg/Cruise collaboration “War of the Worlds,” which it would release on June 29, a Wednesday.
What I find really funny is when a news source really tries to hype up a story:
It’s widely expected that one of those pics will move, but neither studio wants to be the one to blink first. If the two pics remain in place, it would make for a showdown not seen since “Gremlins” and “Ghostbusters” both opened June 8, 1984, to say nothing of the battle between “The Perfect Storm” and “The Patriot” over the Independence Day weekend in 2000.
Wow, and what battles they were! Okay, I might give them the Gremlins \ Ghostbusters one. Still the point is valid, it doesn’t benefit either Studio when people are forced to choose between a block buster on it’s opening weekend, and it’s even worse nowadays with the costs so high. It could be said that it was quite affordable to see two movies in a weekend, if not staggering them within a week, but nowadays it’s stretching that for a lot of people and families in particular.
However it’s looking harder and harder for movement in the calendar for Summer, supposedly this is the tightest year for releases in Summer so far:
Sony and Warner Bros. are planning four releases apiece in May, June and July, but those studios are spreading their pics out a bit more…Hollywood has crammed the schedule with so many releases that, if you’re still trying searching for a date for your blockbuster, the only open weekend left is Aug. 26.
All this is great news for us, the audience, we’ll have a Summer filled with loads of releases and great choice. Let’s just hope it’s not too much for our wallets.
