In a shocking slew of release date changes, Disney is having quite a bit of controversy with some of their release patterns.
The most shocking of which is that Pixar will NOT be releasing a movie in 2014, as The Good Dinosaur has been moved from May 30, 2014, to November 25, 2015. Pixar has declined to comment, but original director Bob Peterson was removed from the project a few months ago. Originally, it was confirmed it would meet its' release date, but that has changed. The lack of a Pixar movie will hurt Disney in 2014, as their movies are usually the studio's highest-grossers.
As a result of Dinosaur's move, Finding Dory has been pushed to June 17, 2016 (it was originally set for the day that movie is now on). At first, I was disappointed I wouldn't be seeing a sequel to one of my favorite movies on Thanksgiving week. But then, I recall a recent post here where I didn't think it would be surprising that the sequel would be bumped to the following summer, and that's what happened. Pixar made a similar move with Monsters University, which was moved from November of last year to this past June. One shocking note of this move, is that How To Train Your Dragon 3 is set for the same date. Looks like DreamWorks Animation may have to make some changes too. And who knows? If Kung Fu Panda 3 succeeds in Christmas 2015, maybe the third Dragon will release in that same time period in 2016.
Maleficent took Good Dinosaur's original date, which was moved up from its' July 2 second release date (the original date was March 14). The May 30 release date is a wise move, as it would feel more reasonable to compete against the second weekend of X-Men: Days of Future Past than Transformers: Age of Extinction, which has more appeal for children than the other. A trailer should debut anytime now.
Finally, Disney added sports drama McFarland to November 21, 2014, to compete against the opening of the first part of the final Hunger Games. Disney is having two sports films debuting in one year, this and Million Dollar Arm (May 16, 2014). Though McFarland's release date is kinda tricky. It opens right before Thanksgiving, when DreamWorks Animation's Home debuts, not to mention six other movies (including two other Disney flicks) vying for similar audiences in December. It could prove to be a success being a live-action, effects-free movie.
Benedict Cumberbatch's The Fifth Estate will now open wide on October 18, 2013.
Disney should do OK in 2014 despite the major blow of not having a Pixar movie. They kick off 2014 with Muppets Most Wanted on March 21. In addition to that and Maleficent, McFarland, and Million Dollar Arm, they have two Marvel films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy), Tomorrowland, Into the Woods, Big Hero 6, Planes: Fire and Rescue, Alexander and the No Good, Terrible, Horrible Day, Studio Ghibli's The Wind Rises, and Disneynature's Bears.
And whatever happened to the year of movies in 2015?? Disney has had major issues with that. First it was Pirates of the Caribbean 5 not making its' release date, then reports surfaced on Star Wars: Episode VII not making its' 2015 target, now Finding Dory will miss out on that year. It looks like things aren't going to be as strong as we hoped 2015 would be....oh well.
