With the United States undergoing a major political shift after the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and the inauguration of a new administration, it was the right time for another type of giant reform: Thursday night, Universal, Sony, and Fox Searchlight once again scrambled the release schedule for the theatrical film in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 25th James Bond film, No time to die, leaves behind the biggest crater of the spring season of 2021, going back five months until October 8, 2021. Positioned as Daniel Craig’s final release as 007, Universal and MGM first set the film for an April release 2020, before facing a series of delays due to coronavirus-related shutdowns. Universal also changed the release to two smaller films: The next sci-fi film led by Tom Hanks BIOS, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (War of Thrones), which will now be released on August 13, 2021, and Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film Night spent in Soho, which the studio postponed until October 22, 2021.
Some news – my new movie @lastnightinsoho now it will be released at the end of the year. I know that some of you may be disappointed, but I hope that more of you will be able to experience as we intended; in the dark, on a big screen, with an audience. See you at the cinema … 22/10/21 pic.twitter.com/9DH4alnEyv
– edgarwright (@edgarwright) January 22, 2021
After selling the next animated comedy by Chris Miller and Phil Lord Connected (renamed The Mitchells vs. The Machines) for Netflix to streamline the launch, Sony Pictures has done its own calendar reorganization. Direct sequel to Jason Reitman for the original Ghostbusters movie, Ghostbusters: life after death, will delay the premiere of Muncher, the sticky blue ghost of summer until November 11, 2021. The long, long, long, long gestation live action movie starring Tom Holland has also changed since the summer season , but all the way to February 11, 2022. Sony also released two films about to debut: Peter Rabbit 2, which fits on June 11, 2021 and Kay Cannon Cinderella, which runs from February to July 16, 2021.
Much to the chagrin of Spider Verse fans, Sony also beat Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the vampire Dr. Morbius, until January 21, 2022. Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage remains strong on June 25, 2021 – for now.
Fox Searchlight also tangoed the launch day on Wednesday, closing dates for some major films of the genre and Oscar candidates. Movies include David Bruckner’s horror film The Night House (July 16, 2021), biography of Michael Showalter and Jessica Chastain Tammy Faye’s eyes, Scott Cooper’s creature resource Horns (October 29, 2021), and Guillermo del Toro full of stars Nightmare Alley (December 3, 2021).
Despite intentions to step up vaccinations and codify plans for how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden again warned this week that the United States is still facing a “bleak winter” in terms of infection and mortality rates. The pandemic is not over yet, and in response, Hollywood is rethinking its launch strategy to accommodate what should be at least another six months of abnormal life.
Unlike Warner Bros. Pictures, which will radically rethink distribution in 2021 with a simultaneous release in the cinema and HBO Max of its entire list of films, many studios still hope to get the box office of a traditional release, prioritizing delays in relation to direct streaming dumps. As many insiders have signed, there will likely be more delays on the horizon, although studios are probably waiting to see what Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios will do with Black Widow before staging a real exodus of summer films. Disney changed a series of releases to Disney Plus “Premier Access”, but in a Call for Investors in December, executives made clear their intentions to limit themselves to the cinema for giant releases. Don’t worry: WB’s Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely coming out on March 26th, so you can expect it.