Director Guillermo Del Toro has announced that his action sci-fi sequel Pacific Rim 2 will be moved from April 7, 2017 to August 4, 2017. Universal has been moving release dates around recently and confirmed that Duncan Jones' Warcraft movie will be pushed a few months to June 10, 2016.

Pacific RimPacific Rim was a big commercial hit for Universal

Elsewhere, the new Mummy film has been moved from June 24, 2016 to March 24, 2017 while the new chapter in the Fast & Furious saga will be released on Friday April 14, 2017 - a no brainer for the studio given the massive success of the recent Furious 7.

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Though Pacific Rim is a notable announcement, the biggest news here is the Warcraft movie. Duncan Jones - the critically acclaimed director of Moon and Source Code - has had it in the can for almost a year and the film was original going to come out in December 2015 until Star Wars forced it to move. The new June date is notable in that it suggests Universal regard the movie as strong enough to compete in a crowded season that sees the release of Batman v Superman. On that particular weekend, it will go up against The Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2 and Uncharted.

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As for Pacific Rim 2, the release date move is probably a good thing for Del Toro and Universal. April was beginning to look pretty crowded indeed, most notably with the studio's own Fast and Furious 8, which will be the priority commercially.