By now you’ve surely heard many times over about the blockbuster franchises that are releasing new installments in 2015 (Avengers, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and so forth), but we’re quickly approaching the point where there are as many new additions to box office heavyweight properties (Batman/Superman, How to Train Your Dragon, Independence Day, etc.) that will be opening theatrically in 2016.
In today’s release date roundup, we add yet another tentpole to the 2016 roster, in the shape of King Arthur. The latest take on the Arthurian legend is being directed by Guy Ritchie, who got his start by churning out small London crime tales like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and RocknRolla, before making a bigger splash with his re-invention of the Sherlock Holmes movie franchise (with help from star Robert Downey Jr.).
Ritchie, as it were, is currently in the middle of re-inventing another period piece for the 21st century, with The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a film reboot of the 1960s international espionage TV series. That movie could start another franchise, while Ritchie’s King Arthur is being considered as the first chapter in a potential six-part series; for now, though, only the first installment in each respective series been given the go-ahead.
Warner Bros. has scheduled King Arthur to open in U.S. theaters on July 22nd, 2016. There are currently no other films slated to arrive that day, though a week later 20th Century Fox intends to release the sequel to this summer’s addition to the Planet of the Apes franchise, known as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
In other release date news, THR is reporting that Relativity Media has pulled Jane Got a Gun from its previous August 2014 release date, with the new date yet to be announced.
The original western from director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) and screenwriter Brian Duffield (co-writer on the upcoming Divergent sequel Insurgent) stars Natalie Portman as a woman who seeks help from her ex-lover (Joel Edgerton) to save her family from a vengeful gang of outlaws after her husband. The films sounds like a potential awards season contender, despite its unanticipated (and highly-publicized) behind the scenes drama; assuming that hasn’t affected the film’s quality too much, it may end up getting an Oscar-qualifying release in late 2014.
UPDATE: THR is now reporting that Jane Got a Gun‘s U.S. release date has been pushed to February 20th, 2015.
Lastly, here are some additional release date announcements from the past week:
- A Monster Calls, the children’s fantasy novel adaptation by director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), is slated to hit U.S. theaters on October 14th, 2016.
- Theory of Everything, the Stephen Hawking memoir starring Eddie Redmayne (Jupiter Ascending) and Felicity Jones (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), arrives in U.S. theaters this year, starting with a limited release on November 7th, 2014.
- November Man, the CIA drama/thriller starring former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and based on the late Bill Granger’s novel There Are No Spies, will hit U.S. theaters on August 27th, 2014 (now that Jane Got a Gun is no longer arriving two days later on the 29th).
Lastly, as we reported earlier today, the final installment in the cinematic franchise based on the Divergent novel trilogy, Allegiant, will be adapted to the big screen as two separate films.
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King Arthur opens in U.S. theaters on July 22nd, 2016.
Jane Got a Gun arrives in U.S. theaters on February 20th, 2015.
