Release dates have been announced for The Dictator and Maleficent.  Here's the breakdown:

  • Paramount has moved back the comedy The Dictator five days to May 16th in order to avoid sharing the May 11th weekend with Tim Burton's comedy Dark Shadows. [Deadline]
  • Disney has slated the Sleeping Beauty re-imagining, Maleficent, for March 14, 2014.  The film stars Angelina Jolie as the eponymous evil sorceress.

Hit the jump for more on both films and their box office competition.

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The Dictator stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the leader of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, and judging by the trailer, the film will continue Cohen's style of irreverent and scathing satire.  However, The Dictator is straight-up comedy rather than a mockumentary where Cohen takes on a character to dupe hapless interview subjects.

In addition to getting five days distance from Dark Shadows, The Dictator will now get a two-day jump on the action-blockbuster Battleship and the anthology comedy adaptation of What to Expect When You're Expecting.

In addition to announcing the release date for Maleficent, Disney has also released the first official logline:

The live-action film explores the origins of the evil fairy Maleficent and what led her to curse Princess Aurora in Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty. Leading a team of visionary filmmakers known for creating and transporting audiences to new and exciting worlds, Academy Award®-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (Avatar, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful) will direct with a script by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Alice in Wonderland).

Last month, we reported that Elle Fanning was in talks to play Aurora, but since the press release doesn't mention the rising star, I assume those negotiations are still on-going.

On March 14, 2014, Maleficent will have to square off at the box office against the animated family film Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which is based off the short cartoons from Rocky and BullwinkleMr. Peabody features the voices of Ty Burrell (Modern Family) and Max Charles (The Amazing Spider-Man).

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