Basically, the sequels to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class are hitting that summer, as well as Robopocalypse, Steven Spielberg's science-fiction event movie.  Oh and the new Apes movie has an official title, but we'll get to that.

First up, Robopocalypse has been rescheduled from next summer to April 25, 2014, meaning that Fox intends for this to be the film that blows the bloody doors off the season, much as The Avengers did this year and, to a lesser extent, Fast Five did last year.  Spielberg's film, which he'll shoot once he finishes up work on Lincoln is based on the novel by Daniel Handler and boasts a script by The Cabin in the Woods director and co-writer Drew Goddard. 

The humans vs. robots epic was previously set for July 3, 2013, and Fox is now giving that date to a 3D re-release of 1996's Independence Day, a movie with abundant Freudian issues and an over message of American cultural imperialism. The 3D reissue could be interpretated as a move to gauge potential interest in the sequel that has threatened to happen for the last sixteen years.

Just about a month after Robopocalypse, Fox will release Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to last year's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, on May 23, 2013.  That prequel unexpectedly reinvigorated the long-lived Planet of the Apes property with surprisingly enthusiastic responses from critics and audiences.  Director Rupert Wyatt and motion-capture star Andy Serkis are set to return for another round, while Contagion screenwriter Scott Z. Burns was brought aboard earlier this month.  That May 23rd debut is one week after a still-unidentifed Marvel Studios release and one week prior to Disney and Pixar's The Good Dinosaur.

And finally there's the as-yet untitled follow-up to X-Men: First Class, which is now scheduled for July 18, 2014.  Last year, Matthew Vaughn's 1960s-set tale pulled something of a Batman Begins, injecting life into a franchise that looked worse for wear after X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Simon Kinberg is currently at work on the script, with Vaughn and the principal castmembers led by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, all set to return.  Production is tentatively scheduled to begin in January of 2013.

So there you have.  If there's a gauntlet, Fox just threw it down a little bit.