With all the noise over Spider-Man 3, Disney doesn’t want you to forget about the other mega-blockbuster coming out this month, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Captain Jack is coming back, and he’s coming back early.

It’s now pretty common for massive, event releases like this one to get midnight screenings on the early early morning of the film’s official release. If you’ve never been to one, they’re a lot of fun, usually filled with people dressed up in costumes and geeks just hanging out engaging in harmless fanboy fun. But Disney doesn’t want you to wait till midnight, so they’ve nudged forward the Pirates 3 release date by a few hours and will be releasing it on the evening of Thursday May 24th at 8pm, instead of waiting till Friday May 25th at 12:01 am.

You’ve got to wonder if this has anything to do with Spider-Man 3’s record weekend box office take. Spidey stole Disney’s record, and you can bet they want it back. By screening the movie at 8pm instead of 12:01am they make it easier for the average joe to be first in line for Pirates. At the same time though, they’ve sort of taken the fun right out of the whole midnight screening thing. It’s less of an effort to make it a few hours earlier, so the people who show up to see it are less likely to be in to it as the hardcore crowd that shows up to be first at a midnight screening.

If you’re looking for a reason to be there at 8pm for At World’s End, Disney has handed us a new featurette from the film on the Dread Pirate Lords Jack Sparrow is going into battle with for this one. Check out that Misc Video Clip and two new Pirates 3 TV spots by clicking here.