March 16, 2009–Paramount and DreamWorks' “Transformers 3” will be release July 1, 2011. The studios wanted to claim the date before a competitor did, considering that the 2011 summer release calendar is filling up.
No deals have been inked with director Michael Bay or franchise stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Nor has a writer been hired for the third installment.
The big-budget franchise has fast tried to claim the July Fourth holiday frame as its own. “Transformers” opened on July 3, 2007; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” bows on June 24, 2009, one week before the holiday.
Paramount also moved up the release of Marvel Entertainment's “Thor” from June 16, 2011, to May 20, 2011. Marvel is producing and financing the superhero picture. That shift comes less than one week after Marvel said it was pushing back the release of “Thor” by a year, from July 16, 2010, to June 16, 2011.
Marvel was criticized for scheduling “Thor” and “The First Avenger: Captain America” so close together. “Captain America” opens July 22, 2011. Summer 2011 kicks off with the May 6 release of Sony's “Spider-Man 4.”
