AceShowbiz -

Sony Pictures has changed the release date of its upcoming "Men in Black" spin-off. According to Deadline, the film, which was originally set up against another big follow-up, Keanu Reeves' "John Wick 3", on May 17, 2019, is now scheduled to open in theaters across the United States one month later, on June 14.

With its new release date, the film will only be up against New Line's "Son of Shaft", a reboot of the 1970s action film "Shaft", so far, though it opens a week after Fox's "Gambit (2019)", the "Charlie's Angels" reboot, "The Secret Life of Pets 2" and an untitled Fox/Marvel film. The week after, it faces "Toy Story 4". "Transformers 7", "48 Meters Down" and "Cowboy Ninja Viking" open the week after that.

The "Men in Black" spin-off, which was announced in September of last year, was being fast-tracked by the studio, with Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, the writers behind "Iron Man" and "Transformers: The Last Knight", providing the script. It will be a different project from the aborted "21 Jump Street" franchise mash-up, "MIB 23", which Jonah Hill admitted last year was "too complicated" in terms of the deals needed. That film remains in development, though.

The untitled Men in Black spin-off won't see the return of original stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, but the film is expected to take place in the same cinematic universe as the original trilogy. It will focus on new characters as opposed to Agents K (Jones) and J (Smith). No director is attached to the spin-off as of now, but the search is on and the producers expect they'll find one shortly.

The first "Men in Black" film came out over two decades ago in the summer of 1997 and became one of the biggest hits, grossing nearly $589 million worldwide. Its sequels, "Men in Black II" (2002) and "Men in Black 3" (2012), didn't match the success of their predecessor, grossing $441 million worldwide and $642 million respectively.