War of the Worlds Claims Fourth of July

20th Century Fox has called off what was the summer's highest-profile head-to-head opening battle by pushing the release of Fantastic Four back a week to July 8, reports Variety.

That clears the Fourth of July holiday frame for Paramount and DreamWorks' War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. The film, which received a Super Bowl TV spot, will be released on Wednesday, June 29, giving it a six-day opening run through Independence Day on the following Monday.

Fantastic Four is now set to open against Sony's Bewitched, starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, and Universal supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key, starring Kate Hudson.

Fox did announce it would now counterprogram the Fourth of July frame with Roll Bounce, which gets moved up from September 16 to July 1st.

Meanwhile, Sony has decided to take the Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni remake of Fun with Dick and Jane out of the summer season and position it as a holiday comedy. The movie had been set to bow on June 24, but Sony now says it will be released on December 21. Also scheduled for the December date are Universal's The Producers and Warner Bros.' Rumor Has It, starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner.

New Line has moved up Wedding Crashers to July 15 from July 22. Also opening that frame are Warner Bros.' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Paramount's The Honeymooners, and MGM's Into the Blue.

With the change above, Fox moved Martin Lawrence comedy Rebound to July 22, a date which also has Michael Bay's The Island. The studio moved Fever Pitch up a week to April 8, the old date for Rebound.