Does Speed Racer have what it takes to go against Indiana Jones? I doubt it, but at the moment the cartoon adaptation is scheduled for the same weekend as the next sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Paramount Pictures has gone and narrowed down the previously reported release target and announced that it will open what it is now only referring to as “The Fourth Installment of Indiana Jones” on Thursday, May 22, 2008, which is one day before Warner Bros.’ release date for Speed Racer.
Sure, Memorial Day weekend is long enough for multiple new releases, but not usually for two tentpoles. So, obviously, Speed Racer is going to have to move out. Sure, the film is the Wachowski Brothers’ official follow-up to The Matrix trilogy (the unofficial was V for Vendetta), but it would take a lot to convince audiences to avoid the first Indy film in nearly 20 years. It will already be hard enough for Speed Racer to attract the audiences away from Iron Man (I’m looking forward to this and I never even read the comic) and the second picture in the Narnia franchise, which will open May 2 and May 16, respectively.
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