It seems that the truly impossible mission these days is convincing families, happy and smiling in the spirit of the Christmas season, to look at each other over a roaring fire and say, “You know what? Let’s get some Tom Cruise in on this.” Variety reports that Mission: Impossible 5’s Christmas 2015 release date has self-destructed, leaving the film no recourse but to scuttle backwards five months to July 31.
This would be the same day that Guardians of The Galaxy came out the year prior, and therefore was chosen because, much like Poor Richards’ Almanac advises, “’Tis the date of release that determines a movie’s success, not its quality. Saves nine, etc.” (Benjamin Franklin really started to run out of steam towards the end.) This will put the ostensible blockbuster back into its natural habitat of summer, despite the franchise being incredibly robust pretty much wherever Paramount decides to schedule it. The last entry, which came out in mid-December, was the highest-grossing installment of the series, and a career-best box office for Cruise. It also gives a wide berth to the other big action-spy franchise hero, James Bond, whose next appearance comes with the release of Spectre in November.
The studio is moving its animated feature Monster Trucks from May 29 into the now-open Christmas day spot, though the reasons for this are unclear, as audiences are presumably looking forward to grittier fare, like the fourth Alvin And The Chipmunks movie, during the holidays.