THOR, PIRATES, SPIDERMAN 4 All Play the Release Date Shuffle

It was announced on Tuesday via Variety that Sony Pictures was putting SPIDER-MAN 4 on indefinite hiatus citing issues with the screenplay.   The film was slated for release on May 6th, 2011, but a source claimed this date was questionable at best.   It hasn’t taken long for other, tent pole films to swoop into that prime spot.

Today, both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety are reporting that Paramount’s THOR, previously set to bow on May 20th, has moved into the May 6th slot, giving it the opening Summer position for 2011.   With nothing left to fill the May 20th slot, Disney has stepped in and made that date the home for the release of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES.

The question that remains now is in where SPIDER-MAN 4 will find itself once these script issues get worked out.   Two of the three, previous SPIDER-MAN movies opened in that opening, Summer slot.   SPIDER-MAN 2 opened in late June of 2004, but, right now, the July 1st slot in 2011 is home to TRANSFORMERS 3.   Don’t expect that franchise to get sweated out any time soon.

SPIDER-MAN 4 is still announced as having a May 6th release date, and, should this date hold, it could leave Paramount in quite a conundrum with what to do with THOR.   They won’t want to open against an already established, comic book franchise, and Marvel will do everything in their power to keep this from happening, anyway.

What do you think?   What date looks good for the next SPIDER-MAN entry?   Did Paramount jump too soon in shifting THOR’s release date?   Looking at the current slate for Summer 2011, what film do you think has the strongest chance of walking away the big bread winner?     Let us know by leaving a comment below.