Earlier today, Sony Pictures moved up the release date for its Brad Pitt-fronted WWII drama Fury, but now the studio's Pixels release date is being pushed back.  Originally scheduled for May 15, 2015, director Chris Columbus’ action-adventure pic will now open on July 24, 2015.  The film stars Adam Sandler and revolves around a group of 80s arcade game champions who are called upon to help defend earth from alien invaders who have misinterpreted our classic arcade games as a declaration of war.  The cast includes Josh Gad, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Brian Cox, and a mullet-sporting Peter Dinklage, and while we haven’t seen any footage just yet, it actually sounds like one of the most promising Adam Sandler movies in some time.  Hit the jump for more on the film and its new release date.

No reason is given for the Pixels release date shift, but the move takes the film away from the highly competitive atmosphere of May, which includes Mad Max: Fury Road, Pitch Perfect 2, and Spy in addition to the box office monstrosity that will be Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.  On its new release date weekend, Pixels will now square off directly against the Poltergeist remake and director Judd Apatow’s comedy Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer.  It also opens the weekend after Marvel’s Ant-Man and Warner Bros.’ big Peter Pan redo, but it appears to be one of the few all-ages films dated for July besides Minions.

Of course Pixels is still filming, so it’s possible that Sony realized the effects wouldn’t be in the right shape by May.  This gives the production two more months of post on what will surely be an effects-heavy feature.  Thus far, we know for certain that Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders, and Q*bert will all be making appearances in the pic.

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