Marvel Sets ‘Doctor Strange’ For July 8, 2016 Release Date

While we still don't have a 'Doctor Strange' star as Joaquin Phoenix tries to figure out if he really wants to make a superhero movie, we may be getting closer to an announcement as Marvel has set some other important dates for the film. Shooting on 'Doctor Strange' is scheduled to begin in May 2015 in London's Pinewood-Shepperton Studios and the film has snagged one of the previously announced Marvel release dates. 'Doctor Strange' is now set to hit theaters on July 8, 2016.

If you're keeping track at home, that leaves the upcoming Marvel slate looking like this:

2015
'Avengers 2' — May 1
'Ant-Man' — July 17

2016
'Captain America 3' — May 6
'Doctor Strange' — July 8

2017
Untitled — May 5
'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' — July 27
Untitled — November 3

2018
Untitled — May 4
Untitled — July 6
Untitled — November 2

2019
Untitled — May 3

Currently, Scott Derrickson ('Sinister') is directing and working on the film's script with Marvel's in-house writers. We'd heard that previous drafts of the film would have Dormammu as the 'Doctor Strange' villain, but it's unclear if that's been changed through the development process.

As for the rest of the Marvel schedule, we can assume that both 'Thor 3' and 'Avengers 3' are part of the schedule above, as well. 'Thor 3' will probably take one of the remaining 2017 dates, while if history is any indication, 'Avengers 3' will open in theaters on May 4, 2018. That still leaves a lot of dates to be filled in with mystery projects. Any guesses as to what they might be?

[via Screen Daily]