Since the 2018 invite had gone out to all players we’ve had a couple inquiries regarding Avengers: Infinity War and Marvel’s late decision to move the release date up from May 4 to April 27. We certainly appreciate the input you’ve provided, and we’d like to take this opportunity to identify our stance.
Avengers will not be part of the SMP this year, as it moved right out of our summer timeframe. There is precedent, as Fast Five did the same thing in 2011, having moved up from the original June 10 date to April 29. The decision was made then to not create an exception, and we all enjoyed a great summer. Avengers’ departure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it’s a pretty safe bet that 100% of players would have picked it, most likely atop their list. Not much competitiveness there. A concern is if studios continue this trend, where do we stop? Two other F&F movies came out in early April, and the highest-grossing April movie ever (The Jungle Book) came out on April 15. If we allow late-April, soon it will be middle-April. And then it will become early-April. At some point we just have to stick to the summer schedule, and if the studios make changes, so be it. I’m personally looking forward to a pool that doesn’t included a guaranteed Top Three film that most likely EVERYONE would pick.
– SB