Things are getting worse for “Spiderman 4.” With a highly publicized delay on the film due to script problems, Paramount and Disney have wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation.
Both studios made critical moves to their 2011 tentpoles that may force Sony to change their intended May 6, 2011 release date for “Spiderman 4” (thought, at this point, its looking like a strong possibility they are going to have to do that anyway). Paramount announced that Kenneth Branaugh’s “Thor” will be released on May 6, 2011 while over at Disney, they’ve penciled in May 20, 2011 for “Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (though last we heard, that film is also waiting on a script).
So where does that leave Spidey? They can effectively count May 6th out as they won’t want to go toe-to-toe with another superhero flick, and opening a week before “On Stranger Tides” will effectively kill their second weekend box office. Given that the film is already delayed, we can see Sony easily pushing the film into June or July and even taking a gamble with August which in past years has largely been a dumping ground akin to January or February. That will give them a bit more room, and if the competition is weeak, allow them two or possible three strong weekends at the box office. But before they worry about that, they need to a get script in order.