Theory: Why Did Marvel Studios Move Up ANT-MAN's Release Date?

Initially Marvel Studios announced their first Phase 3 film to be released on November 6, 2015. Then just a couple months ago, Sony announced Bond 24 would release on the same day as Ant-Man. When this happened, many questioned whether or not Ant-Man would be able to withstand a head-to-head opening weekend versus the sequel to the biggest and most profitable James Bond movie (Skyfall) ever.

Now Marvel Studios has changed their plans and moved up Ant-Man from a November release to a July 31, 2015 date. And yes this is only two weeks after Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's Man of Steel sequel, the as-of-now untitled Batman/Superman movie.

Talk about a challenging opening for Ant-Man. But at least it's not as challenging since the only other currently scheduled movie to release on July 31 is... well... nothing that would be considered a big blockbuster. At least this is the case as of the publishing of this column.

So why did Marvel (and Disney) have a change of heart with Ant-Man's release?

This is just a best guess but most likely because of Bond 24. However, having an already packed Disney summer 2015 release schedule which includes Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Lies and now Ant-Man. It can be assumed Disney wanted to clear up the holiday 2015 movie season for what could be the most anticipated movie to release in 2015.

UPDATE: Disney has now pushed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Lies back to summer 2016, from July 2015, due to script issues. Per THR.

Sorry Joss Whedon but it's not the sequel to The Avengers. It's Star Wars Episode VII. Which by the way is rumored to be called Star Wars Episode VII: A New Dawn. This is not confirmed yet so we'll keep calling it Episode VII until an official title announcement is made.

Of course Star Wars purists do not want the new Star Wars movie to release in any month other than May—since Star Wars has only released on May for its previous six movies—but new ownership might mean a new release time frame. The entertainment company juggernaut has already said Star Wars will release in 2015.

Recently the rumor mill has been churning out a lot of Episode VII information which has yet to be confirmed and one of those rumors said Disney and Lucasfilm are looking at a holiday 2015 release for Star Wars. Makes sense seeing as how The Hobbit trilogy will finish up in holiday 2014 so the path is clear for another huge franchise to continue the trend of bringing blockbusters to the holiday season.

By the looks of things right now, and this is still speculation, Disney and Marvel's move of Ant-Man to the summer 2015 season could be a big hint that Star Wars Episode VII could actually be the greatest holiday gift any fan could receive by giving them the next Star Wars movie.

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