“The franchise pile-up that summer has become is a real problem. There are only so many weekends, and only so many times in one season that the world can get totally psyched about the new installment of some series that ran out of creative steam a few episodes ago. There are only so many new character posters and Snapchat filters an ADD-addled public can absorb from April through August. Hollywood could use some new ideas, [but] that’s only been true since the mid-1930’s or so. And putting lots of eggs in a basket is a big risk, as Universal may well find out somewhere down the Dark Universe road. When you make massive 20 year bets on untested ground, lots of ways that can go.” — from today’s edition of Richard Rushfield‘s The Ankler.

From Box-Office Mojo’s just-posted release date announcements: