"We've had such success with the James Bond films in November that we wanted a big tentpole film in that slot this year," Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said Tuesday. "We've got so many films in the summer that this is the perfect answer to that."

The 007 film "Quantum of Solace" unspooled amid light competition over the comparable frame last year to gross $67.5 million, en route to a franchise-topping $167 million domestically.

This time around, the studio has slotted its tentpole against two wide openers -- Warner Bros.' caper pic "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and Fox's Dwayne Johnson comedy "The Tooth Fairy." It wasn't clear whether the arrival of "2012" would prompt the departure of either of those pics for clearer pastures.