“Monsters vs Aliens” vs “Avatar”

DreamWorks Animation has decided to move up its release date for the studio’s big 3-D animated feature “Monsters vs. Aliens,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will now open on March 27, 2009 instead of its original premiere date of May 15.

The reason for the move? DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg admits that the decision was made to give their film a good two month jump ahead of James Cameron’s highly anticipated 3-D entry “Avatar.” Both films were originally scheduled to go head-to-head in competition. Katzenberg’s decision to change his company’s film release date was a wise one because when “Avatar” gets released on May 22. 2009 it will be stealing all the press thunder.

The other major reason for the date change according to Katzenberg had more to do with the technology than the dollars. “I saw more and more problems splitting the market for 3-D right at the time when it will be becoming the most exciting thing in movie-going,” Katzenberg said at the Goldman Sachs media conference in New York.

“Monsters vs Aliens” is directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon with the visual/special 3-D effects produced by Sully Jacome-Wilkes, famous for the work done on such animation projects as “Over the Hedge,” “Flushed Away” and the live-action flicks “The Cat In the Hat” and “Peter Pan.”