By now, I’m sure that most moviegoers have May 6th, 2016 marked down in their calendars. It’s an important day for cinema, as it will see Batman vs. Superman open up against Captain America 3. The decision to have these two films open on the same day is a strange one (as it will undoubtedly result in a loss of box office dollars for both), but so far, neither Disney or Warner Bros. is willing to budge.
We still have a few years to go until we arrive at May 6th, 2016, and of course, a lot can change. While neither studio has been open to shifting their release date, Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn has admitted that they’re struggling with it.
“We’ll see. We’re struggling with it” Alan Horn on #CaptainAmerica3 debuting against #BatmanvsSuperman
— Brent Lang (@BrentALang) April 22, 2014
Does this mean that the House of Mouse will be the ones to budge? It’s still too early to tell, but I imagine that one of the studios is going to have to make the move. It just doesn’t make any financial sense for both films to open on the same day, as they could make a lot more money on opening weekend if they released on different days.
Of course, neither studio wants to be seen as the “loser” here, which is something that is definitely playing into all of this. They both want to be seen as confident in their properties, due to the heavy rivalry going on between DC and Marvel.
Personally, I really don’t care one way or another how this all plays out. I’ll be seeing both films, regardless, and if either studio decides to change their release date, it won’t have any impact on my perception of them. I think most people understand that it makes complete sense to not have the films open on the same day, to avoid cannibalization, and I really can’t see either Captain America 3 or Batman vs. Superman suffering any negative blowback if they were to change their release date at this point.
What do you think? Would you care if either film moved their opening day weekend? Sound off below!