For a while now, studios have been setting release dates for their upcoming films YEARS in advance. However a new trend in Hollywood is taking this practice to a ridiculous level. Studios are “grabbing the date” by announcing untitled projects (often ones that haven’t even been discussed) with openings way in the future. For animation giants such as Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky and Sony Pictures Animation that means setting release dates as far out as Christmas 2018!
This is INSANE! But there is a pattern: SPA found success last year with the late-September release of “Hotel Transylvania” and several of their upcoming releases (including “Hotel Transylvania 2” and this year’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”) will open that weekend.
DreamWorks was originally set to release three animated films this year (as they did in 2010), but “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” was pushed to next March. This July’s “Turbo” will be their final film of 2013. However, they’re going to try to make-up for lost time with multiple releases in 2014 and 2015.
Since 20th Century Fox now distributes both DreamWorks and Blue Sky animated films, they have decided to go crazy and secure 10 prime dates on the 2017 and 2018 calendar for “Untitled Fox/DWA/Blue Sky” films. They don’t even know what films are going where or when. They just want the space! What’s even more interesting is that Blue Sky has never released more than one film a year, and the studio already has other projects in the works.
And yes, Disney and Pixar are taking part as well. While it’s more interesting to guess if any of Pixar’s projects are anticipated sequels or prequels (“Incredibles 2”, “Toy Story 4”?), this trend has really gotten out of hand. Does it really mean anything to anyone that there’s going to be animated movies opening on dates such as November 23, 2016, March 10, 2017, and December 21, 2018? It’s hard enough just to keep track of this year’s schedule let alone one in five years!
So what if Pixar and DreamWorks going head-to-head on June 17, 2016 with an untitled film and “How to Train Your Dragon 3”? You can’t take any of this seriously because almost all of the dates and films are going to get changed between now and 2018.
It would be much more fun if things went back to the way they used to be: studios developing films years in advance (in secret) and then surprising fans with announcements (like Pixar sorta did with 2015’s “Finding Dory”). But the competition for dates and box office dollars has gotten so hot that booking dates five years in advance is probably the norm from here on. But, with more and more animated films coming-out (because of their potential to be big money makers) the potential for some getting lost in the shuffle is greater than ever.