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The following sentences sound right to me:

The package arrives tomorrow. (The package is going to arrive tomorrow)

We leave for Hawaii tomorrow. (We are going to leave for Hawaii tomorrow)

But the following sound wrong to me:

We watch The Avengers tomorrow. (We are going to watch The Avengers tomorrow)

He likes it tomorrow. (He is going to like it tomorrow)

The house is demolished next week. (The house is going to be demolished next week)

I don't understand why the second group sounds wrong. Is it because there is an object or adjective?

Is there a rule for when the present simple could be changed to indicate future time with only an adverb or preposition phrase?

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    It seems to my ear that it works with anything that has already been scheduled. Your Avengers example sounds fine to me. The typical phrase that comes to mind is "Rest up! We ride at daybreak." I have no clue what the grammar involved is, though.
    – modulusshift
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 4:46
  • Though, if the Avengers example is wrong, it would seem to work only with intransitive verbs.
    – modulusshift
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 4:48
  • Cross posted to ELU: english.stackexchange.com/questions/300169/…
    – GoDucks
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 4:53
  • @modulusshift That's exactly right. See here!
    – Araucaria - Not here any more.
    Commented Jan 16, 2016 at 19:02

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You can use the word 'tomorrow' with the Present Simple when you are referring to a scheduled event. E.g The President arrives tomorrow at 10.15 and leaves at 10.20 The lecture starts at 9.30. You cannot say'It rains tomorrow'. Rain, notoriously, cannot be scheduled. 'The packet arrives tomorrow' could be possible in a context where its arrival is part of some scheme, but it is not likely.

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