Shortly after announcing that Star Wars: Episode VII would be pushed back to December 2015, Disney announced that upcoming Brad Bird directed Tomorrowland has also been moved. The Tomorrowland release date has been changed from December 2014 to May 22, 2015 to presumably fill the void left by Episode VII.
I have to question Disney’s logic with this move. The summer of 2015 is already looking to be pretty crowded without adding the Tomorrowland release date to the equation. So far, there are already plans to release Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Pixar’s Inside Out, Batman vs. Superman, Ant-Man, Assassin’s Creed, Independence Day 2and Terminator 5 (among many others). All of these are part of well-established franchises and I have my doubts that Tommorowland can stand up as a box office draw against such stiff competition.
Of course, last summer’s The Great Gatsby was put in a similar situation. After being moved from their original December 2012 release date to the more lucrative May 2013, it was expected by some (including me) that it would falter against summer tent-poles. Instead, it proved to be one of the surprise hits of the summer and grossed close $350 million worldwide.
I’m also a little bummed that I now have to wait an additional five months for this one because I was already getting pretty excited about it. While admittedly, I don’t really know that much Tomorrowland so far, the fact that Bird is directing is the only reason I need to look forward to it. While he has been primarily known for such animated classics like Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, he proved a couple of years ago that he”s no slouch in the live action department either.
Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol was one of the best action movies in recent memory and has single-handedly breathed new life into the Mission: Impossible franchise as well as Tom Cruise’s career.
Do you think Disney made the right call with changing the Tomorrowland release date? Let us know in the comment section below.