Thor Hip Checks Spider-Man into the Boards

With filming on Spider-Man 4 delayed for an indefinite amount of time due to scripting issues, Paramount and Marvel have decided to push the release date of Thor up two weeks, usurping the coveted May 6, 2011 date from Sony's wallcrawler. That weekend is of particular importance since it marks the beginning of the summer movie season. Since studios are notoriously cowardly folks, Disney immediately slid Pirates of the Caribbean 4 into Thor's old date of May 20, 2011, hoping to capitalize on the lack of competition that weekend.

Sony has stated that it won't be giving up on the May 6th date, and if Spidey does managed to be completed in time it likely will revert back to that original date, which will then cause Thor to be pushed back again.

It's like a really silly game of musical chairs. I think Marvel, which has obvious interests in both films, is quietly positioning Thor to be their new tentpole anyway, what with Spider-Man struggling creatively. Plus, that franchise is already 3 movies deep, normally around the time when the box office starts to drop off.

You can read more on the recent Spidey/Thor developments thanks to Variety's coverage.