Twentieth Century Fox is home to some of the biggest sci-fi franchises and today they've announced some major release date changes that affect five of them.
First up we have Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Since May of last year we've been expecting the film for July 18, 2014, but we have some awesome news: the production seems to be way ahead of schedule. According to Box Office Mojo, the film has been moved up almost two full months and will now be coming out on Memorial Day weekend, May 23, 2014. On the new date it will be facing off with the new Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Blended. It should make an interesting showdown.
Unfortunately, good news for X-Men appears to be bad news for the next Planet of the Apes movie, which has traded spots with Days of Future Past. It's an interesting move given the fact that the reason Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt didn't return for the sequel was because he didn't feel the studio was giving him enough time to make a quality product. His departure opened the door for Cloverfield and Let Me In filmmaker Matt Reeves to take over the helm, but I wonder if a July release date would have been enough to keep Sanders around. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is currently in production and stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, and Judy Greer.
Next up we have a sequel that sci-fi fans have been desperately waiting for. Roland Emmerich is finally getting around to making a sequel to the awesome '90s action film Independence Day and today Fox has dated the film for July 3, 2015. It joins a summer that is already confirmed to include The Avengers 2, Star Wars Episode VII and Pirates of the Caribbean 5. BOM lists the film as Independence Day 2, meaning that the film might no longer be called ID Forever: Part 1, as previously rumored. The director has revealed that the film will be set 20 years after the events of the first film and will have the stepson of Will Smith's character as the lead. Bill Pullman will be back as President Thomas J. Whitmore, though presumably he won't be president anymore. James Vanderbilt, who wrote the script for Emmerich's upcoming White House Down, is holding the pen.
Also new on Fox's schedule will be the Tim Burton-produced adaptation of the Ransom Riggs book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiars, which has been officially announced for July 31, 2015. Retitled Peregrine's Home for Peculiars (it's cleaner), the story is set in an orphanage for strange children with bizarre powers. In 2011, screenwriter Jane Goldman, who was a writer on X-Men: First Class, The Woman In Black and Kick-Ass, was hired to pen the script, though we haven't heard any other updates about the movie since.
Finally we arrive at the last film to move around on the schedule: the videogame adaptation Assassin's Creed. While fans were likely thrilled to hear that the movie was originally going to be released on May 22, 2015, sadly the wait is going to be a little bit longer. The title, which is set to star Michael Fassbender as the time traveling assassin, has been moved to June 19, 2015, where it will face off against Pixar's Inside Out.
A lot of exciting stuff coming up in the next few years, but what are you most excited for? Head to the comments section and tell us what you think!
