As you’ll see below, 2015 is a rather crowded affair at present, with there being enough significant studio releases to cover well over half the weekends of the year, just counting sequels and adaptations. It’s no surprise then this week has brought with it some shuffling and adjustments. I’d expect more in the next couple of months, but here are the three big bits…
• The most recent announcement though is that a new Jurassic Park film will definitely be a part of the 2015 Summer, with the newly-titled Jurassic World slated for June 12th by Universal. This isn’t a Spielberg joint though, remember, as Colin Tervorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) was –let’s call it daringly— chosen to direct. He’s also done some heavy rewrites, or so says word around the campfire (that you should probably put out itsacttractingRAPTORSSHIT). You’ll recall that the only follow-up to the Jurassic Park franchise already happened last year.
• Pirates 5 has decided to take a drop on 2015, packing its bags and setting sail for an unannounced, more roomy date in 2016. Surely it will not be the last. Right now 2016 is scantly populated (at least in comparison to the crowded 2015 blockbuster bubble), with the third How To Train Your Dragon and Spider-Man sequels joined by the expected, untitled Pixar films and Marvel flicks. Johnny Depp is signed for this, with Deadline noting that this gives him a little more room for Into The Woods and Alice In Wonderland 2. Eugh.
• Ant-Man has moved deeper into the summer! Ditching it’s November date, the Edgar Wright’s introduction into Marvel Phase Three will hit on July 31st, 2015, about two weeks after the Man Of Steel/Batman film Warner Brothers is working up. It’s a savvy move- crowded as the summer is, this puts out of direct competition with the Bond follow up to Mendes’ billion-dollar Skyfall. And even if the first shared-universe DC film takes Batman and Super back to Nolan/Dark Knight levels, Ant-Man should be distinctive enough to compete with the film’s third weekend, especially with increased Avengers proximity.
So this gives us a blockbuster (loosely termed) rundown for 2015 that looks like this (list not necessarily exhaustive, * denotes a non-franchise/sequel/adaptation property):
Spongebob 2 (dir: Tibbet) – Feb 13th
Fantastic Four (dir: Trank) – March 6th
Cinderella (dir: Branaugh) – March 13th
*Chappie (dir: Blomkamp) – March 27th
Penguins Of Madagascar (dir: Smith) – March 27th
Ted 2 (dir: MacFarlane) – April 3rd
Marvel’s The Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron (dir: Whedon) – May 1st
Dreamwork’s B.O.O. (dir: Leondis) – June 5th
Jurassic World (dir: Trevorrow) – June 12th
Assassin’s Creed (dir: TBA) – June 19th
*Pixar’s Inside Out (dir: Pete Doctor for now) – June 19th
Terminator (dir: Taylor) – June 26th
Independence Day: Forever – Pt. 1 (dir. Emmerich) – July 3rd
Batman/Superman (dir: Snyder) – June 17th
The Smurfs 3 (dir: Kirkpatrick) – July 24th
Ant-Man (dir: Wright) – July 31st
Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (dir: Burton) – July 31st
Hotel Transylvania 2 (dir: Adamson) – September 25th
Bond 24 (dir: Mendes) – November 6th
Peanuts (dir: Martino) – November 6th
Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part II (dir: Lawrence) – November 20th
Pixar’s Finding Dory (dir: Stanton) – November 25th
Inferno (dir: Howard) – December 18th
Kung Fu Panda 3 (dir: Yuh Nelson) – December 23rd
Definite TBD:
Star Wars: Episode VII (dir: Abrams) – TBD, rumored December 25th
American Sniper (dir: Eastwood likely) – TBD
Gone Girl (dir: Fincher) – TBD currently shooting
Warcraft (dir: Jones) – TBD shooting January
Alice In Wonderland 2 (dir: Bobin) – TBD
Probable TBD:
Fast & Furious 8 (dir: Wan)
Tin Tin 2: Prisoners of the Sun (dir: Jackson)
*Crimson Peak (dir: Del Toro)
Thunder Run (dir: West)
Pitch Perfect 2 (dir: TBD)
Mission: Impossible 5 (dir: McQuarrie)
Possible TBD:
Bourne 5
Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur