[Editorial] Avengers: Infinity War Release Date Moves Up A Week, But Why?

Surprise, surprise. Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios have suddenly changed the release date of Avengers: Infinity War, just two months away from its initial schedule.

Instead of 5 May 2018, the third assembly movie will now be out on 27 April 2018, one week earlier than previously planned. This will also mean that worldwide the movie will have the almost the same release date, though in certain countries like here, Brunei, we will still get it at least a day earlier than anyone else - as early as the night of 25 April.

This change may have been well planned in advance ever since the still untitled Deadpool 2 movie shifted up earlier to 18 May 2018 from 1 June 2018. So now, the new Avengers date would give the movie another week of uncontested ticket sales because Deadpool 2 is from a rival studio and is targeting the same audience.

However, one could also put in a good argument that this also gives more space between Avengers and Solo: A Star Wars Story, which Disney is releasing on 25 May 2018. Reason being that Solo currently is not getting the buzz that a normal Star Wars movie would have by now because the Star Wars brand name is still suffering from the very divisive result of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

That and the fact that the production side of things has gone through its fair share of drama with the changing of directors, as well as a lack of strong marketing strategy from the studio until just a few months from its release.

Also, Alden Ehrenreich did not fully win over fans from his portrayal as Han Solo in that first trailer. I, too, am slightly sceptical at this point. While I do not need Ehrenreich to look like a young Harrison Ford, however, he must be able to capture Solo's spirit from the original trilogy. And that final shot of him talking did not feel like Han Solo.

It really has an uphill battle at this point, and may result in the lowest sales for the franchise yet.

Is it wise for Disney to release Avengers first instead of Solo? I think the other way around may have been a better idea because Avengers is poised to be the biggest movie of 2018. By the time Solo comes out, everyone may still be watching Avengers, as well as Deadpool 2.