Disney, Fox Postpone Release of 'Robopocalypse' to 2014

2:44 PM PDT 5/31/2012 by Gregg Kilday

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Courtesy of Doubleday

Disney's "The Lone Ranger" moves to 2013's July Fourth weekend slot, where it will battle the 3D version of Fox's "Independence Day."

The Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox are moving the release of Robopocalypse from summer 2013 to spring 2014.

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Disney's The Lone Ranger, originally set to open in May 2013, will now take over the Fourth of July weekend date that had been earmarked for Robopocalypse. On that same weekend, it will do battle with a 3D version of Roland Emmerich's 1996 hit Independence Day, which Fox will release.

Steven Spielberg is directing the futuristic Robopocalypse, which is being co-produced by DreamWorks and Fox, with Disney handling domestic distribution and Fox taking care of foreign. Disney and Fox originally planned to release the film worldwide on July 3, 2013, but it has been postponed to April 25, 2014.

The Lone Ranger, now in production with Johnny Depp starring for his Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, had been slotted for release on May 31, 2013. It now shifts to July 3, 2013.

In a less dramatic move, Disney is moving up the opening of Thor 2 by one week. Originally scheduled for Nov. 15, 2013, the movie will now open on Nov. 8.

Meanwhile, Fox has dated two other films for summer 2014.

For the Memorial Day 2014 weekend, on May 23, it will release Rupert Wyatt's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, produced by Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffra and Amanda Silver.

On July 18, 2014, it launches a new untitled X-Men movie directed by Matthew Vaughn.

Fox also announced its Christmas 2013 lineup, which consists of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig and directed by Stiller, opening Christmas Day, and Walking With Dinosaurs, shifting from an October date to Dec. 20.

The studio's 2013 lineup also includes an untitled April 5 comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and directed by Paul Feig; Epic, a May 24 animated movie with Beyonce headlining the voice cast; and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, bowing Aug. 16.