Did anyone notice how bad the last Starwars movie was? Playing against it might be a good thing. The last star wars movie reminded me of one of Ed Wood's movies, "Plan 9 from Outer Space". I think the council scene in Plan 9 had better acting.

I heard/read (don't remember where)that "serenity" was planned for release around march/april. Yes this would put it close to SW3. I fear that because SW has a large fan base, people will see it even if it is go se. Despite my disappointment with I & II, I will likely go see 3 on the day it is released. However, I plan to take the whole 3 day weekend off when "Serenity" is released, And spend the whole 3 days watching every possible showing. I can go without food for 3 days, right? :)
I would love to see "Serenity" be released say 6 weeks after SW3 just so SW3 doesn't take potential viewers from it. If BDM(Big Damn Movie) comes out after SW3, it can take all the disappointed SW fans and show them what they have been missing. Just MHO.

Playing the Devil's Advocate here, it seems that Pitch Black did very well as a sleeper hit with a February release back in Double Aught. Regardless of what you thought of the film, it was a relatively low budget (US$23 Mil.) and had a virtually unknown cast. Let's assume that, compared to other summer fare, Serenity will fall within the same category as Pitch Black did. I think there's a case of winter distribution there. Although honestly, I think I'd love to see the Firefly cruising around at one of the last drive-ins somewhere, while that Star Wars crap plays on in metroplexes making its gazillions.... But, I'm a romantic!

April or August. Putting it up against Star Wars (not to mention Batman Begins) would be disasterous.

I want a summer release so I can have the time to go out and wait in line for it.

I opt for March or April. Not only could Serenity steal Star Wars' thunder, it could possibly still be in theaters when Episode 3 is released. After walking out of that piece of go se, and desiring a good SF film instead, they will remember how much better Serenity was, and it could see a resurgence in BO receipts.