Monsters vs. Aliens

DreamWorks Animation is moving the 2009 release date for its 3-D feature "Monsters vs. Aliens" to March 27 from May 15, in order to avoid a showdown with James Cameron's "Avatar," studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said Wednesday.

The big-budget, effects-heavy opus "Avatar," Cameron's first feature since "Titanic," is due to arrive on May 22 via 20th Century Fox.

Had "Monsters" stuck to its proposed May release, "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.

Katzenberg, who said he has spent the past few weeks studying the developing 3-D exhibition scene, predicted that there would be 5,000-8,000 3-D screens available domestically by the time "Monsters" rolls out in 2009. While a 2-D version of the film will also play in smaller markets, the majority of its U.S. dates will utilize the new 3-D technologies.

With its new release date, "Monsters," directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, will have an eight-week window in the 3-D corridor before "Avatar" arrives.

(Agencies via CRI.cn September 20, 2007)