Apparently today was the day that Paramount decided to have a big meeting about it's upcoming release schedule. Just a little while ago it was reported that J.J. Abrams' Star Trek would no longer be making its debut on June 29, 2012 and that, instead, G.I. Joe: Retaliation would be taking the spot. Now one of the studios other major franchises is packing up its bags and making a shift of its own.

Deadline has learned that Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has had its release date has been pushed back half a week from December 16 to December 21. The film was originally scheduled to go head-to-head with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Iron Lady, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, but now will face off directly against The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and also find competition in The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, We Bought A Zoo, and The Darkest Hour. The fourth film in the franchise, this one directed by Brad Bird, the film stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Nyqvist, Josh Holloway, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg.

The story also has an update on another Tom Cruise project, also set up at Paramount. An adaptation of Lee Child's One Shot written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie - in which the 5'7" Cruise stars as the 6'5", 250 pound Jack Reacher - the project is close to being set for a February 8, 2013 release date. The studio is looking at Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island as a model for the move, as that film saw its release delayed and ended up making nearly $130 million domestically in February.

While I think the move with One Shot is interesting, I'm not sure how much good is being done by delaying Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. That two week span is so insanely overpopulated that any film, no matter how big the franchise, has the potential to get lost in the melee. So many demographics are being hit at once, it'll be interesting to see how crowds spread themselves out.