‘M.I. 4,’ ‘Ice Age 4’ Get New Release Dates

Amid a flurry of release-date announcements Thursday, Paramount has pushed back the fourth installment of its “Mission Impossible” franchise to December of next year, while Fox slated dates for its fourth “Ice Age” movie and its “Planet of the Apes” prequel.

Arriving in theaters 10 years and four months after the original did — and what will be three years after 2009’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” grossed $688.2 million globally — “Ice Age: Continental Drift” is set for July 12, 2012.

Fox has also set a June 24, 2011 premiere date for “Rise of the Apes.”

Paramount, meanwhile, pushed back “Mission Impossible: 4” from Memorial Day 2011 to Dec. 16, 2011. Franchise player Tom Cruise returns to star in that film.