Well, it was only a matter of time. As we expected, Warner Bros. has shifted the release date of its upcoming video game movie adaptation Rampage following Disney's decision to bump up the release of Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War.
In response to Avengers: Infinity War moving from its original May 4 release to April 27, Warner Bros. - in an attempt to give its own blockbuster some breathing room - has announced Rampage will now open worldwide on April 13, one week ahead of its original April 20 date. Despite the film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is coming off the very successful Jumanji reboot for Sony Pictures, it was doubtful that even Hollywood's biggest action star could out-muscle Earth's Mightest at the box office. Rampage producers reportedly wanted to preserve a two-week cushion between the film's release and the highly anticipated arrival of Thanos in Infinity War.
With Hollywood playing musical chairs with release dates, it now means Warner Bros.' Ready Player One, the Steven Spielberg-helmed adaptation of the Ernest Cline sci-fi novel, will no longer have three weeks as the sole tentpole in the marketplace when it releases March 29.
Rampage is an adaptation of the1980s Midway arcade video game about three mutated monsters causing havoc across the globe. Although the game didn't really have the deepest of plots, the movie adaptation has added a story in Johnson's character David Okoye forming a close relationship with the silverback gorilla George.
Whether or not this extra week will translate into the type of success Sony saw with Johnson's Jumanji remains to be seen, but the Warner Bros. is clearly doing everything it can to give Rampage a chance to succeed. On the bright side, the movie is testing well with audiences.
Rampage now roars into theaters April 13.