Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage Moves Up One Week After Avengers Shift

Warner Bros. moves Rampage up one week in the aftermath of Disney moving Avengers: Infinity War. The summer release calendar is as competitive as ever before. With more and more blockbusters being made every year, studios are always vying for the best release date possible. That even applies for a movie projected to be as big as Infinity War. Disney surprised everyone last week by moving the film up a week, giving itself a longer window to dominate – before Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story come to town.


While the reasoning for the move is obvious on Disney’s part, it immediately spelled doom for other films. Movies like Traffik, Animal Crackers, or Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty now have to directly compete with Marvel Studios’ biggest film ever. Meanwhile, it also meant Dwayne Johnson’s next movie, Rampage, was only going to get one week to be box office king.


In order to preserve the film’s legs, THR reports Warner Bros. has moved Rampage up one week. Previously slated to hit theaters on April 20th, Rampage will now debut on April 13th. Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle exceeded all expectations on its way to being a box office smash, so Johnson’s name should generate plenty of interest alone. WB reportedly wanted to preserve the film’s two-week cushion, where it should have the ability to win the weekend in both instances.


Gaining as much separation from Avengers: Infinity War as possible is a no-brainer for WB. The studio is counting on Rampage to be part of their strong pre-summer releases, which also include Tomb Raider and Ready Player One. Coincidentally, as WB moved Rampage earlier to maintain its window, the move cuts Ready Player One‘s time down a week as the biggest new release in theaters. However it shakes out, Rampage will need to perform well in its first two weeks in all markets to make up for what is sure to be a steep decline in interest once Infinity War comes out.


The move is also similar to Infinity War‘s as Rampage is unquestionably the biggest movie coming out on April 13th. That title would have remained true on April 20th, barring high interest in Super Troopers 2. With its new release, Rampage will be competing with Anna Faris’ romantic comedy Overboard and Blumhouse’s horror film Truth or Dare. All three appeal to very different demographics, but there’s no doubt Johnson is the biggest draw at this point.