How ‘Star Wars’ Is Changing the 2017 Blockbuster Lineup

Disney recently pushed back Star Wars: Episode VIII from May to December 2017. Not wanting to give up Memorial Day weekend, the company also moved the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales, from July 7 to May 26, where Star Wars had originally been. This one switch-up has started a game of dominoes that’s affected Hollywood’s tent-pole lineup for the entire year.

First off, rumors that Avatar 2 would be coming that December were pretty much silenced immediately. Sony’s Jumanji reboot moved from Dec. 15 to July 28 in order to avoid Star Wars, which would now eat into the family/nostalgia demographic play. Sony also bumped its Spider-Man re-reboot from July 28 to July 7, so that the company wouldn’t be stepping on its own toes. Paramount, in an unexpected fit of clarity, canceled Terminator Genisys 2 altogether and replaced it with Baywatch in the May 19 slot. (Hey, at least it’s counterprogramming.) Warner Bros. apparently felt left out of the party, so it moved The Mummy reboot to June 9 instead of March 24. Maybe the company just feels really confident about how it’s turning out?

Now that the dust has settled, though, 2017 remains a weird, crowded year: June 9 now features The Mummy, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, and World War Z 2 all in one week. How much you want to bet that’ll change again? While we’re at it, Warner Bros. might want to rethink opening Ready Player One, another geek-friendly movie from Steven Spielberg, against Star Wars. Even after all that, 2017 still features Wolverine 3 (March 3), Alien Covenant (Oct. 6), and Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3). Maybe 2018 will feature a lot of quiet costume dramas based on Jane Austen novels. We’re gonna need a chance to breathe.