Keep in mind there are both Wednesday and Friday slots for films and we know that no dates are final by the way "The Muppets" was bumped-up the schedule from Christmas to Thanksgiving. They'll figure it out.
And it's a GOOD thing it was. While there was that unfortunate 2 week lull in movie ticket sales, Christmas would have killed them. In 2 weeks, more blockbusters came out than in an entire summer. Muppets was lucky the competition was just 2 CGI movies, some dumb vampire flick that wasn't for the Muppets Target Demo anyway, and a very artistic film that just didn't catch on. They picked the
perfect time for that movie to be released.
I'm not saying Summer is such a bad time, but if Disney has 3 other blockbusters planned it just wouldn't make sense for them to run into each other. I kinda think Pooh got shafted by the release date, but I also think it was just destined to be a DVD hit because of the paradigm of Pooh being a baby product. And it's their OWN fault, the way they've been marketing the bear for years. But that's another tant for another time.
I agree with the people who are concerned about what could happen with a summer release. Disney killed the Narnia movies by moving Prince Caspian into the summer where it got overshadowed. I don't want to see the same thing happen to The Muppets.
The first Narnia was a hit because it came out at the right time. That film was released (if I can remember correctly) in between 2 big films (Speed Racer was released around the same time too, and that was one of the factors that hurt that one, other than the terrible word of mouth)... I think they released one more with another company, put it at another terrible time of the year and then that was the end of that franchise.
Now, don't get me wrong... I'm glad to see another Muppet movie... I want to see another Muppet movie... I'd fund one myself if I had the money. But above all, we want to see this movie get a fair shake at the box office. A strategic release date can make all the difference. Like I said, if Disney has a big movie planned every month from May-July, it wouldn't make sense to put 2 movies in a month, as it would be in direct competition with itself. May's the Marvel month, June's always Pixar. July would be great, but they have a movie in July already.
Yes, we're getting another movie... but we want this one to do well as well... that leads to a
third movie after all.