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Major fireworks are looming over next year's Fourth of July holiday if two rival studios stick to their plans to launch major sci-fi films on one of the most lucrative moviegoing weekends of the year. 20th Century Fox was first to plant its banner on the holiday. Late last year, it announced that its adaptation of Marvel Comics' "Fantastic Four" would open Friday, July 1.

But Paramount Pictures is now moving onto the same territory with plans to open director Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise. The co-production with DreamWorks, based on the H.G. Wells novel, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29.And, so far, neither studio is backing down.

Fox already has withstood one challenge from Paramount this year. Paramount had planned to open "Mission: Impossible 3," also starring Cruise, on June 29. But the sequel's production was pushed back to next year after the recent exit of director Joe Carnahan, who was replaced by J.J. Abrams.

Paramount then gave an urgent greenlight to the "War" remake, which is scheduled to begin production in November. Initially, the studio listed it simply as a 2005 release, but as plans have firmed up, Paramount is now aiming to go head-to-head with "Four" even though it will face a much tighter postproduction schedule than "Four" will.

The only other wide release scheduled for that frame is the Disney cartoon "Chicken Little."

Source: Reuters / Hollywood Reporter - Nicole Sperling

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