Early Summer Release Schedule

[cellarhound]

Ok, I have been reviewing this June-July release schedule...

things don't look too good for Disney this summer...

Major Tent Pole movies: And they are HEAVY HITTERS TOO... (As opposed to last years silence...

Batman Begins (Warner Bros - Jun 17)
War of the Worlds (Paramount/DreamWorks - June 29)
Fantastic Four (Fox - July 8)
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros - July 15)

Durring this time there are Disney Films ("singles and doubles") slotted that are going to be slammed over...

Howl's Moving Castle (Disney/Miyazaki - June 10 Limited Release?)
Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D (Dimention - June 10)
Herbie Fully Loaded (Disney - June 24)
Dark Water (Touchstone - July 8)
Sky High (Disney - July 29)

Herbie is the strongest of this slate... Note that Herbie is being released between Batman and War of the Worlds... And it is going up against Bewitched... Ugh... I don't think it will fare as well as it should...

Two disney films released the same day? Interesting...

Moving Hitchhikers to next week was a sweet move, because XXX's trailer looks really weak... And Kingdom of Heaven looks very strong... Even with Samuel Jackson... Which is too bad really...

[stinkerbell]

I'll probably see Herbie, because the kids will be out of school and by then, we'll be bored stiff. And we'll see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the same reason. I'm not pumped about either of them.

I'm a bit curious about War of the Worlds.

Other than that, we'll most likely see Bewitched in order to see Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris. And whenever Strangers With Candy is released, we'll be there, ASAP, same reason. I'd better go check to see when that's being released......

[stinkerbell]

Doh! SWC isn't opening until October. Damn.

[dsnylndmom]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the only one that I"m really looking forward too, but Kyler is realllllly looking forward to that, Batman and Fantastic Four

[cellarhound]

I saw this on one liners from SaveDisney.com... It is an exceprt from a Daily Variety article... (Some how I missed this article... but I am concerned about this strategy employed by Mr. Cook... I personally think he should go back to being a DLRR operator...) Because like I said, this year's early summer's slate is going to get SLAMMED... It may be that he is trying to avoid the compitition... But since when did Disney become a trend follower rather than a market leader?

The quote is below:

"The Mouse House has cheerily bid farewell to the Weinsteins and to Pixar. Its ex-president, Jeffrey Katzenberg has put DreamWorks Animation into full orbit and seems to be taking aim at every product that Disney's reinvented animation unit tries to levitate."

"Translated from Disney-Speak, does this mean the Mouse House believes it can de-glitz the filmmaking process? When Cook says he will gladly settle for ‘singles and doubles,' does that set him up for bunts and strikeouts?"

"Hence, while high-wire acts may seem like hubris, an equally persuasive case could be made about lowering the wire too far. If showmanship can prove to be dangerously intoxicating, risk aversion can be a corporate soporific."

Peter Bart, "Harvey on the high wire," from the column, "Backlot," Daily Variety, Sunday, April 10, 2005.

Looks like "bunts and strikeouts" to me...