New Bond, Ghostbusters and Uncharted release dates are pushed back again

As the United States undergoes a major political change following the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and the swearing-in of an all-new administration, the time has come for another kind of giant overhaul: Thursday night , Universal, Sony, and Fox Searchlight have once again reshuffled the theatrical release schedule 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 2021 season, pushing back five months until October 8, 2021. Positioned as Daniel Craig’s last release in 007, Universal and MGM first scheduled the film for an April release 2020, before facing a series of delays due to coronavirus-related shutdowns. Universal has also changed the release of two smaller films: the upcoming science fiction film directed by Tom Hanks. Biographies, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (The iron Throne), which will now open on August 13, 2021, and Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film Last night in Soho, which the studio delayed until October 22, 2021.

After selling Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s upcoming animated comedy Connected (renamed The Mitchells against the machines) to Netflix in order to speed up the release, Sony Pictures made its own schedule reorganization. Jason Reitman’s direct sequel to the original Ghostbusters movie, Ghostbusters: the afterlife, will delay the debut of Muncher the goopy blue ghost from summer until November 11, 2021. The long, long, long, live-action feature Uncharted starring Tom Holland also changes from the summer season, but all the way through to February 11 2022. Sony also released two films about to debut: Peter Rabbit 2, which locks in a June 11, 2021, and Kay Cannon Cinderella, which runs from February to July 16, 2021.

To the chagrin of Spider worm fans, Sony also hit Morbius, with Jared Leto as vampiric Dr Morbius, until January 21, 2022. Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage continues to hold out on June 25, 2021 – for now.

Fox Searchlight also tangoed on release day Wednesday, setting dates for a few key genre films and Oscar hopes. Films include David Bruckner’s horror film The night house (July 16, 2021), biopic by Michael Showalter and Jessica Chastain Tammy Faye’s eyes, The creature of Scott Cooper Wood (October 29, 2021) and the star of Guillermo del Toro Nightmare alley (December 3, 2021).

Despite intending to increase vaccinations and codify plans to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden again warned this week that the United States still faces a “dark winter” in terms of relates to infection and death rates. The pandemic is not over, and in response, Hollywood is rethinking its exit strategy to accommodate what is expected to be at least another six months of abnormal life.

Unlike Warner Bros. Pictures, which will radically rethink distribution in 2021 with a simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max rollout of its entire movie slate, many studios are still hoping to bring in the box office of a traditional rollout, in giving priority to delays to direct discharges. As many insiders have signed on, there are likely more delays on the horizon, although the studios are likely waiting to see what Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios do with May’s. Black Widow before proceeding to a real summer cinematographic exodus. Disney has moved a number of releases to Disney Plus “Premier Access,” but during a call to investors in December, executives made it clear their intention to stick to theaters for giant releases. Don’t worry: WB’s Godzilla vs. Kong will definitely release on March 26, so you can expect that.