This could well be the battle of the century, box-officially speaking: After months of speculation as to which movie Marvel would be slotting in to its already-claimed May 6th, 2016 release date, The Hollywood Reporter, citing unnamed “insiders,” is reporting that this movie will, indeed, be Captain America 3, which means it’ll only be two years between this year’s Cap and the next one, and only a single summer after Marvel’s gargantuan Avengers 2 in 2015.
So, great, right? Marvel usually dominates the first weekend of the Summer season (even though, by my count, May is firmly planted within Spring), as it has since the first Iron Man in 2008. But, uh oh, people who can’t figure it out from the headline: May 6th, 2016 is also the EXACT day Warner Bros. is planning to release its hotly-anticipated superhero movie, which may be called Batman vs. Superman (or something like Man of Steel: Dark Knight Returns – The Movie Film). Warner has already pushed their film back a year to give Avengers 2 as wide a berth as possible.
Here’s what the Reporter article said of how this all went down:
This week, when promoting the upcoming sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige threw down the gauntlet, saying he had no plans to move off the May 6 date. He still wouldn’t reveal the identity of the film; However, insiders confirm it will indeed be Captain America 3. The world premiere of Winter Soldier is Thursday in Hollywood.
Warner Bros. may have been waiting to see what the Marvel title was before considering a date change for Batman-Superman, if the studio blinks. There are still weekends available that summer, including the first two after Captain America 3 and Batman-Superman are set to open. Zack Snyder begins shooting Batman-Superman in the coming weeks.
Veteran box office observers doubt that the two films will ultimately open opposite each other.
So what say you, Nerdist faithful? Do you think Bat/Super will pick a different date or will the two big-budget monsters truly open on the same date, likely ending in some kind of low-to-mid-level ticket sales draw? If the two were the same weekend, which would get your money? And, the most pertinent question of all: Why is Batman so awesome? Answers and discussion in the comments below, and don’t forget to show your work.
Considering how well Kevin Feige has steered the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have no doubt that his comments about not budging are true…..for now. Keep in mind that WB has already taken a lot of heat since they pushed Man of Steel 2 back 10 months. If they “blink” now, it will only further build the lack of trust and faith in leading their cinematic universe. Now, that being said there are a couple of key things to note.
1)It is ASSUMED that the Marvel movie will be Captain America 3. It has not been confirmed. If it ends up being a lesser known character, then we could see Marvel move its date.
2)Man of Steel 2 is about to start shooting soon and we have no idea when Marvel will begin shooting their movie. That means that Marvel may have to adjust their release date do to shooting issues or conflicts that could arise prior to the beginning of shooting.
As of now, I don’t see either studio budging. The fact is that most people that are going to see either of these films would be seeing both. Since the shared date is being announced 2 YEARS early, most people will most likely just plan on seeing both movies that weekend. Were the box office will hurt is that a lot of die hard movie goes may not see either movie more than once in the opening weekend due to seeing both.
Marvel just took a huge dump in wb’s front garden by putting them up against each other. If winter soldier does the numbers it predicted then b v s will be moving. Love the fact that marvel are also scewing over fox in regards to quicksilver/scarlet witch.
@Steve as Kyle said It’s more thank likely that one of them will budge. The real story is the big studio game of chicken. I gotta say It was a dick move for WB to come in and try to bully Marvel off their spot. Still I’m going to see both of these movies regardless. I love the comeback of Marvel to move Ant-Man up to BMvSM’s abandoned 2015 date, going after WB’s Pan movie.
Everyone’s probably right that Batman/Superman will move. That being said, if it did come down to one or the other, I’d have to pick Cap 3. No contest whatsoever.
Obviously go see one on Friday and the other on Saturday.
Most will choose one or the other (I am going nowhere near the DCverse). Die hard comicbook fans will just have a long day at the theater.
No capes!
If you know anything about the movie biz you know that one will move. This is a non-story.
So on ONE day in 2016 we will have arguably the three most important characters of the Golden Age in TWO movies.
This is important.