Last night, Warner Bros. announced that it would be bumping the theatrical release of its video game adaptation Rampage up one week to April 13 (from its original April 20 date). The move came shortly after Disney announced that it's own blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War would also be releasing one week earlier, moving from May 4 to April 27. While the studio didn't flat out admit the reason behind the move was due to the new Avengers date, it was pretty obvious to just about everyone.
And now, Rampage star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has taken to social media to address Hollywood's latest game of musical chairs. Having a little fun with the situation, Johnson claimed in his video that Rampage's new release date had "nothing to do" with Marvel moving up the release of Avengers: Infinity War. Rather, the real motivation behind the move, according to the actor, was to avoid "giving away any of our spoilers."
He's joking, of course. And in a more honest message accompanying the video, Johnson said: "These movie release dates are always a chess game, and in the end I want EVERYONE playing to win. And now that we’ve moved to April 13th, it pretty much guarantees that I’ll be home for the birth of my baby daughter - so thank you Mr. Stark. We all win. And if you Avengers ever wanna have a lil’ fun and Rumble... you know where to find me."
Let's face it, Rampage never had a chance against Avengers: Infinity War and everyone - including Warner Bros. execs and Dwayne Johnson knew it. So while the change of dates isn't a surprise to anyone, it's fun to see Dwayne Johnson have a little fun with it.
Check out the full video below which includes some light "spoilers" (but not really) for Rampage.
Rampage opens in theaters worldwide on April 13.