Warner Bros. has gone ahead and penciled in official theatrical release dates for a pair of new franchise installments: The Hangover Part III, which once again chronicles the inebriated escapades of The Wolfpack (played by Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms) - and the 300 spinoff, which is still tentatively being referred to as 300: Battle of Artemisia, but is expected to be released under a different title.

Meanwhile, the studio has gone ahead and moved Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim back a couple months. The Pan's Labyrinth filmmaker's throwback to Japanese giant monster sci-fi genre fare is now set to hit theaters on July 12th, 2013... which, ironically enough, is the same date it was originally scheduled for theatrical release, before Warner Bros. scooted it up to May 10th of next year.

It stands to reason that Warner Bros.' decision to return Pacific Rim to its July date was prompted by Universal having recently moved its Tom Cruise-starring sci-fi flick, Oblivion, up from a July 19th to an April 26th release for next year. Pacific Rim definitely stands to benefit from the move, as it will no longer be sandwiched between the theatrical premieres of Iron Man 3 and Star Trek 2 - and instead, will only have to compete with Steve Spielberg's Robopocalypse adaptation (which opens nine days earlier) for the attention of the sci-fi blockbuster-hungry crowd.

Pacific Rim (for those unfamiliar) is a futuristic war epic revolving around the battle between humans armed with 25-foot-tall self-controlled robots - and enormous creatures from another dimension. The film's cast includes fan-favorites like Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Idris Elba (Prometheus), and Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), working under del Toro's direction - from a script originally penned by Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans), with heavy revisions by del Toro and input from several other screenwriters.

The Hangover Part III is now slated to reach theaters on May 24th, 2013, almost exactly two years after Part II charged in theaters - and the same date on which Universal currently plans to release Fast & Furious 6. It's possible that one of those two cash cow titles will change dates in the future, seeing how they're both gunning for the attention of the lucrative under-30 male demographic in particular - though that's not a given, seeing how the duo also offer very different forms of entertainment (lowbrow comedy vs. high-octane thrills).

Todd Phillips is returning to direct and co-write the Hangover threequel, which will reportedly stray away from the plot formula of its predecessors (wherein The Wolfpack has a crazy night of booze-fueled partying and must pick up the pieces the next day). Furthermore, Hangover Part III is purportedly being designed as the last in the series and "a fitting conclusion to [the] three-part opera of mayhem, despair and bad decisions" that are Phillip's Hangover movies. We'll see if that remains the plan after Part III's box office returns are tallied.

Last (but not least) there's the new 300 movie, which star Rodrigo Santoro recently clarified does indeed take place around the same time as the events in the first film - so, it's neither a true prequel nor sequel. Regardless, the film is now set to hit theaters on August 2nd, 2013, where it will face some competition for the attention of action-hungry moviegoers from Red 2. Similarly, 300: Battle of Artemisia (or whatever it ends up being titled) will also have to square off against MGM's reboot of the RoboCop franchise during its second week of release.

300 helmer/co-writer Zack Snyder worked on the screenplay for the spinoff, but is handing over directorial duties to Noam Murro (Smart People) while the former completes work on the Superman series reboot, Man of Steel. The new 300 flick also features a little-known cast - with Eva Green (Casino Royale, Dark Shadows) being the biggest name attached so far - and is said to focus on the backstory for power-mad Persian leader Xerxes (Santoro). Hence, there's a big question mark looming over this flick's head, as far as potential box office success goes.

We will continue to keep you up-to-date on the status of The Hangover Part III, Pacific Rim, and the 300 spinoff as more information is released.

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Source: Warner Bros.