The Coronavirus pandemic has hit every industry hard including the entertainment business in Bollywood as well as Hollywood. Although the releases of a lot of Hindi films have already been postponed, it looks like Disney is also following suit. Disney is making a number of changes to its upcoming theatrical release dates in order to accommodate delayed films like Black Widow and Mulan. Artemis Fowl which was originally set to release on May 29, will now not hit theatres at all but will make its Disney Plus debut over the summer.
Mulan is now eyeing a release date on July 24 from its opening on March 27. Disney’s move suggests that it believes the Coronavirus Pandemic will come under control and people will start thronging to theatres by mid-July to watch highly-anticipated films. In order to release Scarlett Johansson starrer Black Widow, a number of Marvel films’ release dates have been shifted. Black Widow is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe post Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Black Widow will now hit theatres on November 6, which was the original release date of The Eternals. The Eternals has been postponed to February 12, 2021, a date that was held by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Marvel Studios' #BlackWidow arrives in theaters November 6. pic.twitter.com/oyIGyAxm59
— Black Widow (@theblackwidow) April 3, 2020
Shang Chi will now open on May 7, 2021, bumping Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to a much later date of November 5, 2021. The fourth film in Thor franchise Thor: Love and Thunder will release on February 28, 2022. However, Black Panther 2’s release date of May 8, 2022, remains unchanged whereas Captain Marvel will open earlier on July 8, 2022.
A statement from the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) reads, “To avoid catastrophic losses to the studios, these titles must have the fullest possible theatrical release around the world, while one or two releases may forgo theatrical release, it is our understanding from discussions with distributors that the vast majority of deferred releases will be rescheduled for theatrical release as life returns to normal.”
Free Guy is moving to Dec. 11. Here's a clip that's weirdly appropriate and isn’t actually finished. We cut it a while ago (while there was still a “Fox” before @20thcentury). Ignore the watermarks. And huge thanks to #Aspect for cutting it. pic.twitter.com/aJDqaGIFvT
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 3, 2020
Disney has also shifted the release date of its yet-untitled fifth Indiana Jones film from July 9, 2021, to July 29, 2022. The French Dispatch will move from July 24 to October 16. Fox Entertainment’s Free Guy that stars Taika Waititi and Ryan Reynolds will now open on December 11 instead of July 1, 2020, and Jungle Cruise gets delayed by one full year to hit screens on July 30, 2021. Fox’s New Mutants, an X-Men franchise film does not even have a release date yet.
"Sharing a biz update in the world of entertainment and movies
Our @disneystudios JUNGLE CRUISE is officially pushed by one year to be released JULY 30, 2021." (via @TheRock) pic.twitter.com/D9ChvABDdU
— Jungle Cruise (@JungleCruise) April 3, 2020
The big studios are trying their level best to ensure that their films generate a good return and hence they are weighing the ones which will give most profit and releasing them in theatres earlier while the others are being shifted or will have an online release on streaming platforms.
(Source: Hollywood Reporter/Twitter)
