"Fantastic Four 2" Release Date Bumped By Force Of "Star Wars" Announcement

CBR

By Brett White

Published Mar 13, 2015

The sequel to this summer's "Fantastic Four" has been delayed slightly to make room for 2017's "Star Wars: Episode VIII."

Following yesterday's big Star Wars announcement, ComingSoon.net has reported that Fox has bumped back the release date for the sequel to their upcoming "Fantastic Four" reboot in order to get it further away from "Star Wars: Episode VIII."

"Fantastic Four 2" will now hit theaters a week later on June 9, 2017, thus distancing itself from Disney's Rian Johnson-directed "Star Wars" film. "Episode VIII" will open on May 26, 2017. Warner Bros. has yet to announce whether or not it will follow in Fox's footsteps and move the release date for "The LEGO Batman Movie," which also opens on May 26, 2017.

As evidenced by the film's trailer, the first film in the new "Fantastic Four" franchise reimagines the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby characters as hard sci-fi protagonists. "Fantastic Four," directed by Josh Trank, opens in theaters later this summer on August 7.