Prepare for the next 'Batman' movie to hit theaters on July 20, 2012!

Big news dropping today, via Box Office Mojo:

In one of the most anticipated announcements in recent memory, Warner Bros. officially set a date this morning for the follow-up to The Dark Knight. Tentatively known as Batman 3, the movie will debut July 20, 2012 in conventional and IMAX theaters, almost exactly four years after The Dark Knight opened to record-breaking numbers.

At this time, there are no details available regarding the plot or the cast, though it is assumed that Christian Bale at least will be reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Warner Bros. was also unable to confirm whether or not Batman Begins and Dark Knight writer-director Christopher Nolan would be taking on those responsibilities again for part three.

Thanks to a wealth of factors including the perceived quality of Batman Begins, the promise of The Joker as the villain, the publicity surrounding star Heath Ledger's performance and untimely death and the movie's overwhelmingly positive reviews, The Dark Knight debuted to an astounding $158.4 million, setting an opening weekend record that has yet to be topped. By the end of its run, The Dark Knight banked $533.4 million, making it only the second movie ever to cross the $500 million mark at the time (since then, Avatar has also reached this milestone). Worldwide, The Dark Knight accumulated just over $1 billion, putting it in the top five all-time.

The Spider-Man reboot, set to debut on July 3, 2012, is the only other release currently scheduled for July 2012. Other high-profile movies scheduled for Summer 2012 are The Avengers (May 4), Madagascar 3 (May 18), Battleship (May 25), Disney/Pixar's Brave (June 15) and the Untitled Star Trek Sequel (June 29).

-The summer of 2012 could be shaping up to be a big one...thoughts?

Start preparing for 'The Hobbit' in 2012...

...since according to this in The Hollywood Reporter, that's when it's on track to come out:

“The Hobbit” is coming to theaters sooner than you think, but later than you initially thought.

Let's clear it up.

Warner Bros. is scheduling Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro’s two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit” for December 2012 and December 2013.

A confusion over release dates surfaced earlier today when Imax announced an overall, 20-film, three-year deal with Warners. In outlining which films would be included, Imax incorrectly gave 2013 as the release date for the first “Hobbit” movie.

But 2013 is two years later than the 2011 release date that New Line and MGM targeted for the first installment when the two companies originally announced the movies in December 2007.

However, 2011 proved not to be a realistic date and instead served more as a guideline, according to insiders, because when it was first announced, no scripts were written, nor schedules or budgets drawn up.

While the project is taking a bit longer than the filmmakers anticipated, it is now on track for 2012 -- rather than the 2013 date mentioned in the Imax release.

The second movie’s script was turned in to the studio a couple of weeks ago, and all parties are starting to break down the financials for the movies now.

Warners moved quickly to set the calendar straight in the wake of the Imax release, and by midday, the giant-screen-format company said it was going to send out a correction, officially making 2012 the new date for the first “Hobbit” movie.

-I'm not especially looking forward to it, but I know almost the whole world besides me is...thoughts?

Is a sequel to 'Monsters Inc.' coming our way?

Via Variety:

Disney is getting animated in 2012.

Studio has dated Pixar's "Brave" for June 15, 2012 while also confirming a sequel to "Monsters Inc.," which will be released on Nov. 16, 2012.

Mouse House chairman Rich Ross made the announcement Thursday afternoon on the studio lot.

"Monsters Inc.," released in 2001, becomes only the third Disney-Pixar property to reach sequel status; the first was "Toy Story," which is gearing up for its third installment this summer. The second, "Cars 2," will unspool in 2011.

"Monsters" grossed over $525 million at the worldwide box office.

Pixar's "Brave," formerly known as "Bear and the Bow," is the CGI animation company's first-ever female-driven feature.

Starring Reese Witherspoon,"Brave" tells the story of an impulsive princess (Witherspoon) who aims to shed her royal ties and become the world's first, great female archer.

Writer/director Brenda Chapman ("Cars") is behind the project.

Ross isn't known for being a man of few words. Yet outside of the occasional appearance at an awards show or premiere, Disney's studio chairman has been one very silent figurehead since taking the job last fall.

It's been a surprising departure from the exec Hollywood is used to: As the head of Disney Channel, Ross was one of the Mouse House's most vocal cheerleaders.

He might be back. After spending months assembling his new regime, which culminated with this week's hire of MT Carney as marketing chief, Ross met with the media for the first time Thursday to unveil his blueprint for the Mouse House moving forward.

It involves making 14-16 movie per year coming from Disney's live action and animated divisions, Marvel and DreamWorks.

Carney's role is in fact a new one for the studio when she joins in mid-May, with the exec handling marketing for all pics from theatrical on through their homevideo releases -- "the whole life cycle of a movie," Ross said.

"Our job No. 1 is to male great movies, get the word out that they're coming out and deliver them to consumers the way they want it," Ross said.

"I need to make movies that are profitable and that's what I need to focus on," Ross said from the Disney lot as he unveiled new footage from a muscular slate of tentpoles skedded for this year that include "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," "Toy Story 3," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," "Tangled," and "Tron: Legacy," as well as "Secretariat," with Diane Lane and John Malkovich, which he described as a movie that sends a signal of what Disney is and what Disney can be."

The pic falls into a category that Ross describes as a "targeted tentpole," one like the teen-skewwing dramedy "Prom," that can be made at a lower pricetag and for a specific audience.

Ross said Disney would release "Gnomeo & Juliet," the Elton John-produced animated musical produced by Miramax, in early 2011, through the Touchstone banner. Pic had been one of several that had been in mentioned to be in contention as Disney negotiates with bidders for Miramax. Miramax's Jennifer Aniston comedy "The Switch" will also bow this August through Touchstone.

"Cars 2," the fourth "Pirates," the next "Muppet" movie (which will intro a new Muppet named Walter) and DreamWorks' "Real Steel" also unspool in 2011.

Tim Burton's stop-motion pic "Frankenweenie" and Andrew Stanton's live-action epic "John Carter of Mars" also bow that year.

As for projects he pulled the plug on, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" was just "too dark" in what was planned to go into production. It's "still a project we're considering."

"This is about focus," Ross reiterated of the studio's plan moving forward. "We live in times where there's less opportunities to bring in revenue. While pet projects are fun it's important that everyone is focused. It's important to be focused on opening the movies.

"What you see is a slate that will have a diversity of pictures," he said. But while there's an emphasis on the bottomline, "we're in the movie business not the business business."

-Thoughts?