STAR WARS seems to be the rock in the water, causing ripple effects far and wide in places we wouldn’t have expected.
Take Sony’s upcoming SPIDER-MAN reboot. They were never going to conflict with STAR WARS, and was set to open on July 28th of next year, several months after EP VIII made another ungodly sum at the box office. But when SW moved away from May 26th, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES got bumped up to that date, and then Sony took the opportunity to slot Spidey into that film’s post-July 4th weekend, three weeks earlier than expected. Sony also pushed back their JUMANJI remake by 7 months, from Christmas ’16 to Spidey’s old July 28th date.
Aside from the lingering June releases of WONDER WOMAN and DESPICABLE ME 3, there’s no direct competition for this SPIDER-MAN solo flick, so it should pull down huge numbers over the holiday weekend, particularly if Tom Holland’s take in CIVIL WAR is well-received.
It should be noted that the only previous Spider-flick that came out in July was the first AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, which boasts the worst opening of either SM series to date. However, I’m thinking they’ll have better luck with this one, as it’s more of an official MCU movie, as well as a direct follow-up to the inevitable mega-blockbuster that is CIVIL WAR.
When a film becomes the highest-grossing movie of all time, everyone pays rapt attention to when the sequel’s coming out so they can avoid it at all possible costs. This massive list of release date changes shows just how hard THE FORCE AWAKENS has rocked the industry, and how much scheduling has been, and will continue to be, built around when Disney decides to roll out their STAR WARS entries. It's good to be the king.
SPIDER-MAN: HOLLANDAISE will make you web your pants on July 7th, 2017.
