Concerns about the threat of COVID-19 have already disrupted the our every day lives with school closures, business closures, and stock market instability. Now, the concerns have spread to the entertainment industry.
The writing was on the wall with the cancellation last week of SXSW, the annual film, technology, and music festival held in Austin, Texas. The threat of transmission has led to calls by cities and states to avoid large gatherings of people so that the spread of the virus can be managed. As a result, the entertainment industry has taken drastic steps.
In the last week, multiple movies slated for release over the next month have been pushed back indefinitely. Included among them are some big titles that were expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue into theaters and the industry. This largely speaks to the now global nature of the movie industry, where more and more studios are relying on income from the foreign markets in Asia and Europe to help bring in the revenue.
To help you keep track, we’ve put together a list of all the movies that have been pushed back by coronavirus so far.
Fast and Furious 9
The long running, high earning franchise pushed back its ninth entry a full year, changing the release date from May 22, 2020 to April 2, 2021.
Mulan
Disney’s live action remake of their beloved animated version of the Chinese legend was pushed back from its March 27 slot to an as yet undetermined date sometime in 2020.
John Krasinski’s follow up to his end of the world monster epic was pushed back from its March 20 date to an undetermined date sometime in 2020.
No Time To Die
The latest entry in the James Bond series, and the last from current star Daniel Craig, was the first major film to announce its pushback. While it was slated for release in April but has been pushed back to November 12.
The New Mutants
At this point, The New Mutants is more myth than movie. Originally slated for release back in 2018, it was pushed back to 2019 to allow for some reshoots, and then got caught up in Disney’s acquisition of Fox and pushed back again to April 3, 2020 only to be pushed back to an indeterminate time sometime in 2020. At this point, Disney should just dump the thing on Disney+ and call it done.
Peter Rabbit 2
The sequel to the surprise 2018 hit had been scheduled to hit theaters on April 3. The film has now been pushed back to August 7.
Antlers
This sci-fi horror film from producer Guillermo Del Toro had been scheduled for an April 17 release. It has since been pushed back to sometime later this year.
The Lovebirds
Kumail Nanjiani and director Michael Showalter, who previously made magic with The Big Sick, were set to reunite for this offbeat rom-com in which a couple, portrayed by Nanjiani and Issa Rae, become embroiled in mystery at this year’s SXSW. Now, the film has been pushed back indefinitely from its April 3 wide release.
Blue Story
This British gangland film was slated for release on March 20. It has been pushed back to sometime later this year.
One Response
HOLLYWOOD COCKSUCKERS! Most of the movies were pushed from 2019 to 2020, I hope no one goes and sees them next year for postponing them in the first place.