STAR WARS Scares Off KUNG FU PANDA 3; Release Date Pushed to March 18, 2016

When Disney plopped the first new Star Wars film
in a decade on the December 18, 2015 weekend,
we knew there would be casualties. No studio
wants its movie to be in the wake of what’s sure
to be a massive box office run, and we now have
another causality to Star Wars ’ dominance.
DreamWorks Animation has moved the Kung Fu
Panda 3 release date from its previous holiday
debut of December 23, 2015, pushing the
animated sequel all the way to March 18, 2016.
The new date sets the film opposite the release
of Lionsgate’s The Divergent Series: Allegiant –
Part 1 , which is the first half of the conclusion to
the Divergent franchise.
Hit the jump for more, including release date
shifts for Pan and Warner Bros.’ horror film
Gallows .
The release date shift news comes courtesy of
Variety. DreamWorks Animation currently has the
Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey-led Boss Baby
scheduled for March 18, 2016, so that will have
to be moved. The studio has been doing some
major shuffling lately, with its summer 2015
release B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly
Operations expected to be pushed back as well.
DWA’s next film is the sci-fi comedy Home ,
scheduled for March 27, 2015.
As for December 2015, the Tina Fey /Amy Poehler
comedy Sisters (previously titled The Nest )
remains scheduled to open the same weekend as
Star Wars , with Mission: Impossible 5 and David
O. Russell ’s Jennifer Lawrence -led Joy slated for
Christmas Day. It’s not as if everything can just
move out of the way for The Force Awakens , so I
imagine these films will hold steady for the time
being.
Additionally, Warner Bros. has pushed Joe
Wright’s fantastical reimagining Pan back a week
from July 17, 2015 to July 24th. This moves it
away from Marvel’s Ant-Man , and it will now
square off against the Adam Sandler Sony
comedy Pixels , Fox’s Poltergeist remake, and
Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck , though I imagine one
or more of those films will shift. WB also moved
up its horror film Gallows from October 2015 to
July 10, 2015, putting it directly opposite
Minions.