“Captain America 3” will face off against “Batman vs. Superman” in the summer of 2016, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.
The third film in Marvel’s patriotic comic book franchise will hit theaters on May 6, 2016, setting the stage for a fanboy smack-down. It’s rare for two films geared towards the same audience to open against one another.
Both of these would-be blockbusters are pitched towards teenage audiences and a confrontation might have been avoided had Warner Bros., which is distributing “Batman vs. Superman,” not pushed the film’s release back 10 months in order to allow for more production time. Instead, it has set the stage for a high-risk game of chicken between its movie and the Disney’s Marvel release.
“Usually one side blinks,” BoxOffice.com Vice-President and Chief Analyst Phil Contrino told TheWrap earlier Thursday. “You always want to avoid this. It’s not good for either movie.”
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For its part, Marvel first snagged the release date way back in 2013, although it did not reveal which of its stable of film heroes would have an on-screen adventure launching at that time. The company said it has no intention of ceding the weekend to Warner Bros. and the first weekend of May is a desirable launching pad for big summer franchises.
“We’re certainly keeping the date there and we’ll announce what that movie is, I assume, in the next few months,” Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told SlashFilm.com at a recent press day for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
A spokesman for Marvel declined to comment. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” premieres on April 4.