VARIETY.COM: Lionsgate has set a Veterans Day weekend release date of Nov. 8, 2019, for Roland Emmerich’s World War II action movie Midway, opening on the same date as the 25th James Bond film.

The slot is also already occupied by Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog in addition to MGM’s Bond movie. MGM is expected to vacate the date since the project currently doesn’t have a director following Danny Boyle’s recent departure.

Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, and Mandy Moore are starring in “Midway.” Wilson will play Edwin Layton, the rear admiral in the U.S. Navy who was part of the intelligence team that correctly pinpointed the location of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s attacking fleet near Midway Atoll in 1942. The damage to the Japanese fleet was so extensive that it never recovered and military historians regard the battle as a turning point in the war.

Harrelson is portraying Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific Fleet during the war. Evans will play Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, who led a crucial aerial attack that caused the sinking of two of Japan’s fleet carriers in the battle. Dennis Quaid, Nick Jonas, Luke Kleintank, Keean Johnson, Etsushi Toyokawa, Tadanobu Asano, and Jun Kunimura round out the cast.

Emmerich is directing from Wes Tooke’s script. He’s producing the pic with longtime partner Harald Kloser. Starlight Entertainment Group and its partners are financing the film. Lionsgate is on board to distribute domestically, while Bona Film Group will distribute the movie in China.

Principal photography started Wednesday in Hawaii. Emmerich, Eckhart, and other members of the cast and crew celebrated Tuesday night with the financers of the film — Starlight Culture Entertainment, Emei Film Group, and Xiao Chong Shan International Culture Media — at a ceremonial camera unveiling at Turtle Bay Resort, in Kahuku, Hawaii. The news about the “Midway” dating was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.