Not too long ago No Time To Die moved it’s release date from April to Novemeber. The reason was the worry about how the global box office would be effected, due to the coronavirus. People were either taken aback or shrugged. That was before everything under the sun started getting cancelled. Now we can go ahead and add 3 more major releases, including A Queit Place Part 2. It’s a strange new world out there, but we’re all going to have to adapt accordingly.
Editor’s Note: Here’s the thing, since starting this article earlier, the whooooooooole film release landscape has changed. There’s a bunch of moving pieces and shifting parts in play. So bare with us, as you sift through all this info. Also, wash your hands after reading.
Earlier today the cinematic slatewas struck a big blow. Turns out Deadline is passing down word that John Krasinski’s follow up to his 2017 hit, A Quiet Place Part II, would be moving back from its March release date. With growing coronavirus concerns, it was an understandable decision. One Krasinski took to Instagram, to share the news about.
Shortly after, Paramount threw down the gauntlet yet again. This time it was The Lovebirds. The action-comedy from Michael Showalter, featuring Kumail Nanjiana and Issa Rae hasn’t had the best week. First, SXSW was cancelled, due to a disaster order placed by the Mayor of Austin. Now, it’s flying away from its perch. Both this and Krasinski’s film currently don’t have a new time frame, as to when we may get to see them.
Jumping from one of the spectrum to the other Universal has completely yanked up one of its potentially biggest cash cows, of the year. The Vin Diesel led Fast & Furious 9 will no longer hold the summer spot it was revving towards. Instead the feature will go on ice for about a year. According to Variety it’ll thaw out around April 2021. The fact that this one was slated a couple months out (May 22), is the strange element. Planning for the future indicates the studio feels this ripple effect to the box office, isn’t a short lived one. Even though they should get a few points, for knowing they’d like it to hit theaters.
And then the other shoe dropped.
As studios started reacting to growing coronavirus concerning, one held fast. Well, mostly. Disney had decided, correctly, to postpone their global launch of the live-action Mulan remake. Stateside, it was chugging along fine. That’s changed now. Deadline exclusively had the word that Mulan, Antlers and poor poor New Mutants are off the calendar. To date, there’s a chance that the last one may go down with a release scheduled for ’18, ’19, ’20, ’21. One of the final remnants of the Fox days just can’t catch a break.
It’s hard to fully grasp the magnitude of moves like these. While this is totally understandable and a necessary precaution, when everyone is being super caution, it’s uncharted territory. What’s hard to gauge is both how long the trend continues and when the tide turns. Film Festivals are cancelling. Comic Cons are cancelling. E3 has cancelled. Even Disneyland is closing its gates. Films are being shuffled into the ether. Meanwhile, movie theaters in the US remain open. For now, that is. Since this is an occasion where even the slightest moments of levity are welcomed, we’ll end on a kind of lighter note. Just remember the 2 new movies releasing on Friday the 13th (and for the foreseeable future) are a Vin Diesel comic-book film (Bloodshot) & a film that was originally pulled from release, last year (The Hunt).
