Following in the footsteps of every major movie studio and setting release dates for two and three years into the future, Walt Disney Pictures has recently updated its release schedule to include Pete’s Dragon and Ghost in the Shell alongside some minor adjustments to the release dates for some of its other major films.
First up is Pete’s Dragon, which is about to head into production with a cast that includes Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard. It will open August 12, 2016, putting it opposite Universal’s Dirty Grandpa and Legendary’s Spectral. Sounds like August 2016 will bring something for the entire family.
Ghost in the Shell will not see the light of day until April 14, 2017, which is hardly surprising given that Scarlett Johansson has only just signed on to lead the film. Right now it remains the only film in that spot in April, but it’s still hitting a week after Pacific Rim 2 and a week before a planned Universal monster release.
Disney has also rejiggered some of its earlier releases. Craig Gillespie’s The Finest Hour now steps into the October 9, 2015 release date that once belonged to Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book. Gillespie’s film chronicles the story of a terrible storm that struck New England in February 1952, destroying an oil tanker. Four members of the Coast Guard headed off to rescue 30 sailors trapped on the tanker. It stars Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, and Chris Pine, among others.
Having been displaced by The Finest Hour, The Jungle Book now takes up a new release date. That film will hit theaters on April 15, 2016, placing it opposite Columbia’s Goosebumps adaptation. The Jungle Book stars Christopher Walken, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o and Neel Sethi.
That’s quite an impressive line-up of films that Disney has on the dock, and it appears that the studio has set itself up very nicely for the next few years, all things considered.