We’ve got a few release date stories to attend to this evening.  Briefly:

  • The Independence Day 2 release date has been moved up a week, from July 1, 2016 to June 24, 2016.
  • Fox’s Hitman: Agent 47 is being moved from February 2015 to August 28, 2015.
  • The untitled Christmas comedy starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been moved up from December to November 25, 2015.
  • The Weinstein Company’s family film Paddington is being pushed from this Christmas to January 16, 2015.

More on these films and their new dates after the jump.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Director Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day sequel now moves away from Warner Bros.’ Tarzan and Steven Spielberg’s The BFG on its title appropriate weekend, as it will now square off directly against The Mummy reboot on June 24, 2016.  Cast has yet to be announced, but we do know that Will Smith will not be back.

Fox’s video game adaptation Hitman: Agent 47 starring Rupert Friend of Homeland fame is being moved to summer 2015, and it will now face off against the Ethan Hawke-fronted thriller Regression during the last weekend of August.  The Hitman reboot also stars Zachary Quinto and Hannah Ware.

While a December release seemed appropriate for director Jonathan Levine’s untitled Xmas comedy, the film will now bow during the Thanksgiving holiday.  The film, which stars Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie, and Lizzy Caplan, faces some pretty stiff competition in the form of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film The Martian, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, Kevin Smith’s horror comedy Krampus, and Jeff Nichols’ sci-fi film Midnight Special.

As for Paddington, it seems kind of odd that the family and holiday-oriented picture would vacate its December 24th weekend, but ERC Box Office reports that that is the case.  It now faces less competition on January 16th by way of the Michael Mann thriller Blackhat and the Kevin Hart comedy The Wedding Ringer, but will audiences still be up for a Christmas-themed film by mid-January?

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Image via Studio Canal