Hollywood's High-Noon Weekends

Universal Pictures 'Fast & Furious 6' with Vin Diesel

Memorial Day:This holiday weekend is one of the busiest of the year at the box office, but never before have two big sequels gone after the exact same audience. This year "The Hangover Part III" with Bradley Cooper and "Fast & Furious 6" with Vin Diesel are targeting men, particularly younger ones.

Warner Bros. is keeping its third and final "Hangover" comedy on the same weekend where the franchise succeeded two years ago, while Comcast's Universal Pictures believes it can accelerate the "Furious" auto-heist series into the big leagues by opening it on such a high-profile date. As if that weren't enough, the pair arrive just a week after "Star Trek Into Darkness," another big-budget movie with phasers set on males.

Warner Bros. Pictures 'The Hangover Part III' with Bradley Cooper

Also opening Memorial Day weekend is the animated adventure film "Epic," though it is targeting a family audience and expected to do less business.

"Fast and Furious" and "Hangover" are both generating significant interest, according to people who have seen pre-release surveys. Most in Hollywood give the edge to the former film, as predecessor "Fast Five" was generally better received by fans than "The Hangover Part II," leaving the franchise with more goodwill.

Disney Enterprises; 'The Lone Ranger'

July 4: This face-off pits the most expensive movie of the summer against an animated scrapper with big ambitions.

Walt Disney spent close to $250 million producing "The Lone Ranger" an attempt to turn the western hero who started life on the radio in the 1930s into a modern-day film franchise. Directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, it stars Armie Hammer in the title role and Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures 'Despicable Me 2'

Given its price, Disney needs the movie to appeal to all audiences. But that's exactly what Universal thinks it can do with "Despicable Me 2", a follow-up to 2010's animated hit.

With its heartfelt family story and humorous winks aimed at adults, some in Hollywood think "Despicable" could beat "Lone Ranger," despite a budget less than half its size.

Then again, the last time pre-release doubts swirled around Messrs. Verbinski, Bruckheimer and Depp was 10 years ago, with a movie called "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Warner Bros. Pictures The Conjuring,' with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga

July 19:The six major studios seldom open four movies on the same weekend: What happens when they go head-to-head-to-head-to-head? That rare occurrence will take place in July when a quartet of new films—none of them indies or documentaries—hit theaters.

"Turbo" is the latest family film from DreamWorks Animation SKG, about a snail who dreams of high-speed racing.

Summit Entertainment; 'Red 2' stars Bruce Willis and John Malkovich

"R.I.P.D." is a "Men in Black"-style sci-fi buddy comedy with Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges and lots of special effects. Directed by the maker of "Red," it will be going after a broad audience.

"Red 2" is a follow-up to the surprise 2010 hit about aging action heroes including Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich that brought out an older demographic.

Finally, "The Conjuring" is a horror movie with aspirations of being a cult hit, with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.

Theoretically, each film is going after a different slice of the audience pie. But it would be unprecedented for four pictures to find the necessary level of success on the same weekend, particularly given the substantial budgets of all but "The Conjuring."

Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared May 17, 2013, on page D4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: High-Noon Weekends.

View the original article here