We already knew there was trouble in the land of Pixar with regard to their next film, The Good Dinosaur. Director Bob Peterson had been bounced off the project and a replacement had not yet been named making the proposed May 30, 2014 seem a little unlikely. Well, that’s exactly the case as Disney has now moved the animated feature all the way to November 24, 2015, a date previously occupied by the Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, which will now shift to June 17, 2016.
As a result, 2014 will be the first year since 2005 to not have a new feature in theaters and at the same time, 2015 will be the first year ever that the studio will have two releases in the same year as Pete Docter‘s Inside Out is slated for a June 19, 2015 release.
Replacing The Good Dinosaur‘s May 2014 slot is the Angelina Jolie starrer Maleficent, which moves from July 2, 2014 to May 30. This move actually works heavily in the film’s favor as it now avoids competing with not only Transformers: Age of Extinction and Fast & Furious 7, but also the World Cup. Now it faces the second weekend of X-Men: Days of Future Past followed by the Tom Cruise sci-fi feature Edge of Tomorrow.
In addition to this news, Disney has slated Niki Caro‘s McFarland, starring Kevin Costner as a high school coach who comes to a predominantly poor Latino town and builds a championship-level program, for a November 21, 2014 release where it will open opposite The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
