Van Helsing Stakes Out Spidey Slot
By Beth Hannan Rimmels
Columbia Pictures has decided to switch the previously announced release date for Spider-Man 2 from May 7, 2004, to July 2, 2004. Universal Pictures then stepped in quickly to fill the blockbuster void by moving its film Van Helsing to the May 7 slot from its original May 21, 2004, date. Van Helsing stars Hugh Jackman as the famous vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's Dracula in what some are calling a "meta-monster movie" by director Stephen Sommers. Van Helsing will be challenged in the film by Universal's classic movie monsters such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman. There's no word on why Columbia decided to delay the Spider-Man release by a couple of months, though there have been comments made about star Tobey Maguire's sore back from filming the first Spider-Man movie back to back with Sea Biscuit, another physically grueling movie about horse racing.