Without a director, any actors, a screenplay or even a title, do you actually have a movie? Paramount certainly thinks so, as it’s already announced the release date for “Transformers 3,” even though deals with the franchise’s director (Michael Bay), stars (Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox), nor any writer have been made.
But waiting for such trifling details is asking a little too much of Hollywood execs when it comes to staking out a coveted spot on the summer movie calendar. That’s why the studio has announced that “Transformers 3” will be coming to a theater near you on July 1, 2011.
For those keeping track at home, we’re getting this scheduling info more than three months before the second film in the franchise (“Revenge of the Fallen”) even hits theaters and more than two years before the film would even see the light of day.
Still, scheduling the release of a sequel two years ahead of its predecessor’s release is hardly strange in Hollywoodland. This past February, Warner Bros. went so far as to announce the release date for the eighth and final “Harry Potter” movie (“Deathly Hallows: Part II” on July 15, 2011) five months ahead of the release of the sixth “Potter” film (“Half-Blood Prince”). Of course, months earlier they’d already put out a release for “Harry” #7 (Deathly Hallows: Part I” on Nov. 19, 2010).
What’s driving this move into scheduling so far in the future isn’t merely a lack of patience on the part of studio executives. It’s also a push to stake out a desirable place on the calendar for your big budget baby before another studio claims that weekend for their own summer movie tent pole contribution.
In the case of “Transformers 3,” then, Paramount couldn’t afford to wait for anything as silly as a screenplay or a contractual commitment from its key players. “Spider-Man 4,” and “Thor” are already scheduled for May 2011. Pixar’s “Cars 2” is locked in for June, while “Deathly Hallows: Part II” and Marvel’s “The First Avenger: Captain America” will come out in July. In other words, the weekends are already disappearing and Paramount didn’t have the luxury of waiting to see how “Revenge of the Fallen” will fair at the box office this summer before figuring out a schedule for the next installment. And they went for a big one: Independence Day weekend is historically the second biggest summer movie weekend after Memorial Day.
Can you get excited for “Transformers 3” before you’ve even seen “Transformers 2”? Should studios wait to see if we like still like their franchises before greenlighting further sequels?
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