The release date for Avatar 2 is moving, ending the biggest box office fight in history before the first punch.
When it was announced that the release date for Star Wars: Episode VIII would be pushed back to Dec. 15, 2017 people who care wayyyyy more about corporate profits than they should started rubbing their hands with glee. “Why that’s only 10 days before Avatar 2!” we chortled, imagining the box office bloodbath ahead. Alas, it was not to be.
'Avatar 2' Vs. 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'
- Oh, To Dream
According to The Wrap, sources inside Fox have confirmed the delay, though Fox has yet to comment directly. Presumably they’d say something like “it’s not ready,” or “we’ll release Avatar 2 when it’s the best movie it can be!” But I’d prefer to imagine that the real reason is “we’re scared of Luke Skywalker’s new sexy hippy haircut. Those flowing locks of amber-grey majesty can not yet be duplicated with the current state of technology.”
While Avatar 2 doesn’t yet have a new release date (presumably this delay pushes back Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 as well), you can bet it won’t be stacked against a Star Wars movie, since money-making, IMAX-branded screens are in short supply (actual IMAX screens, even shorter).
Still, we’ll always have those brief, shining days when it looked like Avatar 2 and Star Wars: Episode VIII were going to tussle over every screen in the country.
