2017 has a ton of major releases coming out in just about every shape and form imaginable. So much so that studios are seemingly having trouble trying to find space to ensure their movies have a chance to make the money they need. That being the case, Warner Bros. has just shifted the release dates for a couple of their big releases next year.
Warner Bros.announced that the release dates for bothGuy Ritchie’sKing Arthur: Legend of the Swordand the horror sequelAnnabelle 2have moved. Starting withKing Arthur, the movie was originally slated to come out on August 19, 2025, but they have now positioned it as a legitimate summer blockbuster. The movie is slated to come out on May 12th, making it the major release for Mother’s Day Weekend. In its original March release date,Guy Ritchie’s take on the legend ofKing Arthurwould have been going head-to-head with the newPower Rangersreboot.
Now, another Warner Bros. release, theDax ShepharddirectedCHiPs, will be going up againstPower Rangerson March 24. It was originally slated to come out on August 11.King Arthurwould have also been coming out just a week after Disney’s live-actionBeauty and the Beast, which will surely still be bringing in major money that weekend.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which starsCharlie HunnamandJude Law, is still going to be facing some stiff competition. It is coming out just a week after Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Being that the first teaser trailer for the movie just became the second most viewed teaser in a 24-hour period (behindBeauty and the Beast),James Gunn’s follow up toGuardians of the Galaxyis likely to crush in its second weekend as well. On May 19, just a week afterKing Arthurcomes out,Ridley Scott’sAlien: Covenantis set to come out.
Speaking ofAlien: Covenant, 20th Century Fox recently bumped up the release date of that movie by nearly three months and the move has prompted a lot of release date shifting. Originally, that is where Warner Bros. hadAnnabelle 2slated, butAlien: Covenantseems like it will be taking away any chance of theAnnabellesequel having the big weekend it potentially could. So, Warner Bros. has moved it to August 05, 2025, instead. That puts it up againstEdgar Wright’sBaby Driver, but those movies aren’t likely to be competing for the same audience, so it could actually work as a good bit of counterprogramming.Alien: Covenantalso prompted Sony to shift the release date of their R-ratedBaywatch, which starsDwayne Johnson, to a week later on May 26.
The originalAnnabelle, a spinoff to the incredibly successfulThe Conjuring, made a staggering $256 million worldwide working from a very tiny $6.5 million production budget. The movie wasn’t quite what fans were hoping for, butAnnabelle 2hasLights OutdirectorDavid F. Sandbergat the helm, so that is providing some serious promise. As forKing Arthur: Legend of the Sword? Putting it right in the heart of the summer implies that Warner Bros. has a lot of confidence in it, or at the very least they thoughtBeauty and the BeastandPower Rangerswould be too much to handle.
