Monsters Inc. 3 Release Date

A couple of release date shifts have been announced. First up, Disney has made the decision to move the 3D re-release of Monsters Inc. up from January 18th, 2013 to the incredibly crowded holiday weekend of December 19th, 2012 (per Box Office Mojo). That date is already host to Judd Apatow’s This Is 40, the Tom Cruise actioner Jack Reacher, and Kathryn Bigelow’s war drama Zero Dark Thirty, not to mention Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby, and the Seth Rogen/Barbra Streisand comedy The Guilt Trip opening just five days later.

Hit the jump for more, including why this might be a smart move for Disney and release date news for Runner Runner.

Though December is a bit of a traffic jam at the moment, Monsters Inc. 3D actually looks to be the only new all-ages movie that will hit theaters just before Christmas. Families with small children will likely opt to revisit Pixar’s classic rather than subjecting their kids to Quentin Tarantino’s new “former slave hunts down slave owners” movie, so the gamble just might pay off for the Mouse House.

Additionally, 20th Century Fox has slated the drama Runner Runner for release on September 27th, 2013 (via Exhibitor Relations). Justin Timberlake stars as a Princeton student who is cheated out of his tuition money playing online poker and ends up indebted to the site’s corrupt boss (Ben Affleck). This solid team-up of actors is promising, and Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) directs a cast that also includes Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, and Oliver Cooper (Project X).

The only other film currently dated for 9/27 is the slightly similar thriller Paranoia, starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, and Harrison Ford. That pic also involves a young hotshot who must contend with a powerful superior.