The entire entertainment industry has shut down left and right these past few months. When it comes to the movie world, there is no exception. Not only are conventions, festivals, and concerts being shut down, among other major industries, the movie industry has taken just as big a hit. With theaters closing worldwide, there have been many production and release delays, including the highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick, No Time to Die, F9 and others.
We’ve put together the definitive list of the productions that have been affected by this growing pandemic. We’ve included, where available, the updated release dates along with possible release options for some, although we are sure there may be more big changes to come, as no one really knows how long this shutdown will extend or, once it abates, how many cinemas can actually reopen. One thing is certain – Hollywood doesn’t like to open major releases narrowly and, if only select cinemas, in mostly smaller markets, are able to open (or if ‘social distancing’ means that auditoriums will only seat 50% or less of their intended crowds) – even the postponed dates below will most likely be subject to further revision.
Delayed Theatrical Releases
Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount’s highly anticipated sequel to the 1986 production Top Gun was set to release on June 24th. The release date has been pushed to December 23, 2020, just in time for Christmas.
Fast and Furious 9 – This new addition to the series brings in many new crew members, including John Cena – adding some ‘heft’ for the conspicuously absent Dwayne Johnson. This one was among perhaps one of the largest changes in release dates, the title has been pushed back from May of this year to April 2, 2021.
Mission Impossible 7 – Filming in Italy was halted on February 24th as Italy became one of the hardest hit countries. The release date of July, 2021 has been pushed to November 19, 2021. This move also prompted Paramount to push back the release of Mission: Impossible 8 to November 4, 2022.
Wonder Woman 1984 – The sequel to the highly successful Wonder Woman, after a few earlier delays, was set to be released on June 5, 2020 but was most recently pushed to its current release date of August 14th 2020. It remains to be seen if a wide enough release will be possible, if only a fraction of cinemas are open, to satisfy Warner. If we don’t get almost all theatres opening and a significant loosening of ‘social distancing’ (which would limit cinema seating capacity), it wouldn’t be surprising to see this one moved again.
A Quiet Place Part II – This thriller sequel written and directed by John Krasinski was also set to release in April, but due to the cinema shutdown, has been pushed to September 4, 2020. This one may stand a decent chance, given likely spotty cinema openings and ongoing seating capacity restrictions, of actually showing up in cinemas on or about this current date.
No Time to Die – The 27th movie in the classic James Bond series was set to be released in April, but has been pushed to November 25th. Daniel Craig’s final outing is sure to demand a massive opening platform, so it’s certain the studio is hoping that by November all theaters are reopened, not only in the U.S., but also globally. While release strategy has lately favored simultaneous global releases, a staggered global strategy could still salvage the full release.
Mulan – The live action remake of the classic Disney movie was set to be released March 27th and had gotten a lot of chatter and outstanding reviews after the world premiere shortly before the previously expected release date. It is now expected to open July 24th. Disney is not often charitable (especially when it comes to box office splits), and they are one of the hardest hit companies among the crisis, with parks, hotels and cruise lines shut down – in addition to the studio. It has already brought Onward to its streamer and Artemis Fowl, another upcoming Disney title will skip theatrical altogether to hit Disney+. Considering all of this and that the studio will not be able (barring a miracle) to enjoy a complete U.S. opening, let alone a massive simultaneous global opening, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this title slip again.
Black Widow – This film, set to kick-start Phase 4 of the MCU, was delayed from May 1st to November 7th of this year. Here, again, is a title that Disney certainly wants to have a massive opening for, at least with a nationwide broad opening in the U.S., if not a more substantial global opening. Black Widow could easily stretch to the February frame that Black Panther debuted in, if it means a broader platform. This leaves Marvel fans with the only flicker on the horizon The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+ in August, with the series repping Phase 4 for the MCU.
The New Mutants – This X-Men spin-off by Marvel debuted in other countries including Belgium and Chile but the coronavirus pandemic fears in the United States led to a delayed release schedule. It was originally uncertain whether or not we would be seeing this in theaters in the U.S. and, if so, on what date, but Disney on May 13th, added The New Mutants back to its release calendar for August 28, 2020.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw – The ninth movie in the Saw franchise, this upcoming horror movie, starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, was originally pulled from the Lionsgate release schedule when its May 15, 2020 date fell to the pandemic, the release date is now set for May 21, 2021.
Jurassic World: Dominion – Production of the next movie in the Jurassic franchise was halted amid coronavirus concerns. As of now, the release date is still set for June 11, 2021, but if production cannot restart soon, and depending on the status of edit/post facilities given the growing backlog of stalled movies and TV titles, it would not be surprising to see the date pushed to at least holiday season 2021 or even summer 2022.
Matrix 4 – The fourth installment of the Matrix franchise halted production in March along with other Warner Bros upcoming movies, Fantastic Beasts 3 and King Richard.
The Batman – Production on this Warner Bros movie has also halted due to virus concerns. The release date has been moved from June 2021 to October 1, 2021. This release date move also pushed back the releases of The Flash to June 3, 2022 and Shazam! 2 to November 4, 2022.
Avatar 2 – The first of several sequels to the original Avatar in the works, starring Zoe Saldana and Vin Diesel, halted production as many others did in the last few months. There has not yet been an announced change to the expected release date of December 17, 2021. With production still halted, however, and no word (yet) on when it is likely to resume, it would be reasonable to expect the massive title’s planned date to slip by at least a year, which would likely also slip Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 by similar range from their planned dates of December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025, respectively.
Jungle Cruise – Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt have already been promoting their planned summer release based on the the storied Disney attraction, which was originally slated for this summer. The film has been put on hold for a full year by Disney, though, now scheduled for July 30, 2021.
Spider-Man 3 – Planned for November 5, 2021
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 – Currently holding a October 7, 2022 release date
Sing 2 – Scheduled to release December 22, 2021
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – Now scheduled for January 15, 2021
The Eternals – Currently slated for February 12, 2021
Shang-Shi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Moved to May 7, 2021
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Currently releasing March 25, 2022
Fantastic Beasts 3 – Now planned for November 12, 2021
King Richard – Delayed from November 2020 to November 19, 2021
Free Guy – Pushed from July 3, 2020 to December 11, 2020
Thor: Love and Thunder – Releasing February 11, 2022
Black Panther 2 – Now planned for May 8, 2022
Captain Marvel 2 – Previously undated, now scheduled for July 8, 2022
John Wick: Chapter 4 – Now scheduled for May 27, 2022
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – Moved to August 20, 2021
Morbius – Now planned for March 19, 2021
Ghostbusters: Afterlife -Now releasing March 5, 2021
Minions: The Rise of Gru – Pushed to July 2, 2021
Venom: Let There Be Carnage – Slated for June 25, 2021
Shazam! 2 – Currently holding a November 4, 2022 release date
Additional Theatrical Delays
- Blue Story – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- The Artists Wife – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Fatale – Currently slated for October 30, 2020
- The Truth – Currently slated for July 3, 2020
- Voyagers – Currently slated for November 25, 2020
- Ron’s Gone Wrong – April 23, 2021
- Antlers – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Tom Hanks Elvis Biopic – Currently slated for November 5, 2021
- The Nightingale – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Birds of Paradise – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Flint Strong – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- The Man from Toronto – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Official Competition – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Samaritan – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- Cinderella – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- The Card Counter – Production Halted – – No current theatrical release date
- First Cow – Held limited release March 6, 2020, holding for wider release later 2020
- Deerskin – No current theatrical release date – virtual cinema opening planned for May 1, 2020
- Uncharted – Production delayed – Now scheduled to release October 8, 2021
- The Climb – No current theatrical release date
- The Personal History of David Copperfield – No current theatrical release date
- The Woman in the Window – No current theatrical release date
- Bull – No current theatrical release date – Scheduled for VOD release May 1, 2020
- In the Heights – June 18, 2021
- The Asset – Currently slated for April 23, 2021
- Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar – Currently slated for July 16,2021
- Malignant – Planned for late summer
- Jesus Revolution – No current theatrical release date
- Greyhound – No current theatrical release date
- Wicked – Pushed from December 22, 2021 – No current theatrical release date
- Candyman – September 25, 2020
- Praise This – Pushed from September 25, 2020 – No current theatrical release date
- The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run – Delayed from May 22, 2020 to August 7, 2020
- The French Dispatch – Delayed from July 24, 2020 to October 16, 2020
- Indiana Jones 5 – Delayed to July 29, 2022
- Nobody – Delayed from August 14, 2020 to February 26, 2021
- Soul – Delayed to November 20, 2020
- Raya and the Last Dragon – Delayed to March 12, 2021
- Infinite – Delayed from August 7, 2020 to May 28, 2021
- The Many Saints of Newark – Pushed from September 2020 to March 12, 2021
- Dungeons & Dragons – Delayed to May 27, 2022
- Spell – No current theatrical release date
- Antebellum – Delayed to August 21, 2020
- Run – No current theatrical release date
- Without Remorse – Currently slated for October 2, 2020
- Jackass 4 – Currently scheduled for July 2, 2021
- The Tomorrow War – Currently slated for July 23, 2021
- American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story – Currently slated for December 10, 2021
Disney – Beyond those already covered, above, Disney halted all their live action filming including: The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey – currently without a release date, Home Alone Reboot – still holding hopes for a December 2020 release, Nightmare Alley – with no current release date, and The Last Duel led by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck – scheduled for December 25, 2020. Also stopped by Disney were Peter Pan, Wendy, and Shrunk. It is possible we will see some of these Disney original remakes on Disney+ if the virus concerns continue to grow.
Netflix – The Prom, Red Notice, starring big names including Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds, and The Harder They Fall, were all halted in production because of fears of the virus. With the recent Netflix productions that were hits, follow-ups to Extraction, 6 Underground and series like Outer Banks are all likely or already announced. While their production and release will doubtless be delayed, we expect to see good things out of Netflix originals in the coming years so stay tuned.
Early and Digital-Only Releases
With all the production and release delays we are experiencing due to closures of sets and theaters, there is a high possibility that we will see some movies come to digital streaming platforms sooner than expected. We could likely see previously released movies and some that were supposed to be released in the coming months come to these platforms either for purchase or free digital viewing.
We have already seen a few movies release digitally well ahead of a normal digital release schedule and we could see more theatrical releases and others join them as an increasing amount of people are staying inside due to virus fears. Following is a list of productions that have or will be released digitally soon.
Trolls World Tour – The big news as cinemas shut down was that Universal had no intention of scrapping their marketing campaign and sliding their release schedule for the follow-up pic. Instead, Uni went straight to on-demand (PVOD), much to the disappointment of cinema owners and their massive trade and lobbying association. While cinema operators largely saw the other studio moves to slip titles quickly to PVOD as an acceptable concession for movies that had their theatrical runs cut short, they widely panned Universal’s decision not to reschedule what should have been a big family release, instead pushing to streaming. This release has now emboldened Universal, as their CEO recently announced their intention to explore simultaneous theatrical and PVOD release of some titles – which sparked AMC Theatres (the largest global exhibitor) to boycott all Universal films.
Onward – The Pixar animation was available on Disney+ as of April 3rd after its theatrical run was cut short. It is also available for digital purchase on other streaming sites for as low as $19.99.
Bad Boys For Life – This hit 3rd movie in the franchise was released in theaters on January 17th for its first run. After doing well in the box office, it was set to continue in theaters, stretching its legs in second run and discount houses until the virus closed theatres. When its run got cut short, it was quickly released digitally for purchase on March 31st.
DC’s Birds of Prey – Starring Margot Robbie, this DC Suicide Squad spin-off was released in theaters on February 7th but was cut short like many others and was quickly pushed to digital for purchase on March 24th. It became available for digital rental on April 7th. Warner has, since, discounted the title to encourage more viewing amidst disappointing consumption that seemed to have mirrored its theatrical run.
Bloodshot – Available on Youtube, Amazon video, Vudu, and more, this new action movie starring Vin Diesel was released digitally on March 24 for purchase, after its theatrical run was also cut short by the shutdown.
Sonic the Hedgehog – Based on the video game franchise by Sega, this anticipated title was released in theaters on February 14th but after only about a month before cinemas closed, was quickly moved to digital streaming and is now available for purchase.
The Lovebirds – The romantic comedy was pulled by Paramount after an original release date of April 3rd. Instead of setting a new theatrical release, the studio sold the pic to Netflix, which will debut it on May 22, 2020.
Scoob! – The new animated outing for Warner’s K9 and his friends was original slated for theatrical release on May 15, 2020, but with theatres shut down, Warner has opted for the route Universal took with Trolls World Tour, moving the title straight to premium VOD (PVOD) on the same date.
My Spy – The Dave Bautista spy pic was originally released by STX in Australia on January 9, 2020, but the planned U.S. release was pulled and the American distribution rights were sold to Amazon Studios for digital release, bypassing cinemas. Amazon has not yet set a release date for the film on its platform.
Hamilton – Most recently, Disney announced that they will bring Hamilton forward nearly a year ahead of its originally planned theatrical debut to move straight to its streamer, Disney+. It’s an interesting move, for sure, by Disney, since they’ve largely held their major titles to await the broader reopening of cinemas. After the dust-up between Universal and the top 2 global exhibitors, AMC and Cineworld (owner of Regal in the U.S.), over bringing major titles to digital, Disney seems to be trying to push this to digital to also test the cinema operators’ resolve. It remains to be seen whether AMC, Cineworld and others would challenge Disney over the streaming moves like they did Universal.
There are, of course, other titles that have moved quickly to streaming due to theatrical closures. Amazon has even launched their Prime Video Cinema for ‘In-Theater Movies At Home’ titling and ‘Early Access’ as more titles are rushed to streaming. Among the titles that also saw early digital debuts are: The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Just Mercy, The Way Back, 1917, Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker, I Still Believe, The Call of The Wild. These titles and more can be found on your favorite streamers, including Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
As the global box office remains dark while audiences are shut-in at home, studios and, especially cinemas, suffer. Movie fans are certainly hungry to see big films on the big screen and there’s a building backlog of high-profile pics to feast on once things reopen. That said, there is certainly no guarantee that the dates listed today will be the release dates that the movies actually launch, as governments around the U.S. and the world plot how and when to allow economies to reopen. While fans can hope that these dates will stand, it will not surprise if studios reposition, yet again, and further crowd 2021 and 2022 with the titles still holding on to release dates in 2020. After all, box office is a business and they need wide release to generate huge numbers.