DreamWorks Animation has moved its CG-animated feature, How to Train Your Dragon, back four months in the release schedule, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The pic is now set to bow in theaters on March 26, 2010, leaving only Monsters Vs. Aliens in its 2009 slate. The 2010 line up will now see three DreamWorks toons in theaters, counting Shrek Goes Fourth on May 21 and Master Mind on Nov. 5.
The studio reportedly made the move to sidestep competition from Robert Zemeckis’ performance-capture adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey, and James Cameron’s highly anticipated, largely CG sci-fi thriller, Avatar. The toughtest competitor for the overseas market would be Avatar, which would roll out interantionally at roughly the same time. Both Dragon and Avatar will be stereoscopic 3-D releases, so competition for specially equiped screens would be fierce.
‘The combination of a jam-up domestically and the very limited 3-D capacity internationally just didn’t make sense,” DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The Hollywood Reporter. “There will not be anywhere near the number of screens needed to accommodate two releases internationally.’
Another possible change of plans for the animation may be the cancellation of Bee Movie‘s release on HD DVD. DreamWorks had placed its bets on the new platform beofre Toshiba decided to discontinue the manufacture of HD DVD players, essentially declaring Blu-ray Disc the winner in the next-gen DVD battle.
