Alita: Battle Angel Moves To Summer; The Predator Stalks A Fall Release

20th Century Fox is shifting a number of upcoming films around its schedule, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The most interesting change being Alita: Battle Angel‘s new Christmas release date.
Originally scheduled to open in July, the film will now debut on December 21st to compete with Aquaman. The move seems to be a show of strength or, perhaps, the production needs more time to animate the title characters unsettlingly massive eyes. Based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ Rosa Salazar stars as a female cyborg discovered in a junkyard by a seemingly kindly scientist played by Christoph Waltz. Lacking memories of her previous life except for deadly martial arts training, she becomes a bounty hunter sometime in the 26th Century.
Shane Black’s long-awaited The Predator will have to wait just a little longer as it shifts from August 3rd to September 14th. It seems the alien hunter is getting out of the way of August competition like The Equalizer 2 and a Kate McKinnon comedy. Or, perhaps, it also needs a little extra time for Black to perfect his dialogue.
If nothing else, the scheduling changes will remind you that Fox is still a film producing entity even as its future as a Disney or Comcast brand is currently in doubt.