‘A Quiet Place 2’, ‘Bond’: Coronavirus cancellations
Not that you’d want to leave your house and go to the local theater anymore, but movie studios are making it extremely hard to want to in the first place. Fearing box office bombs from the Coronavirus, Paramount, Sony, Disney, and more have changed either their global release date or their China release date for their films.
While some films are planning on bearing the storm as of right now, like The Lovebirds and Trolls: World Tour, a majority of March and April releases have postponed or moved their dates. So in case you had your hopes up on seeing one of these movies this month, you may want to look into getting your money back from the theaters.
Mulan
She may be able to take on the entire Hun army, but Coronavirus is one threat Mulan won’t mess with. Disney has pulled the live-action remake from their release schedule at this time thanks to the pandemic. While initially only the Chinese premiere was cancelled, Disney announced the worldwide release being postponed on March 12th along with horror film Antlers.
Starring Chinese superstars like Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Gong Li, and Jet Li, the film is expected to get a large portion of its gross from China. But with the fear of the virus still out there, it’s unknown when Mulan will get its time in theaters.
Jojo Rabbit and 1917
The two Oscar-winning films were about to get their debut with Chinese audiences in February. But after the government ordered the closure of all movie theaters, both Fox Searchlight Pictures and Universal, respectively, cancelled the premieres of the films. Anyone looking to catch these two films will have to wait for a digital release.
Peter Rabbit 2
No one cared about the first one, yet Sony decided to make another Peter Rabbit anyway. Whether it debuts in August or in March, Peter Rabbit 2 is going to be a box office bomb. By pushing the film to August 7th, Sony just delayed the inevitable.
The New Mutants
At this point, if this final remnant of Fox’s Marvel films gets to see the light of day, it’ll be a miracle. After being postponed because of Deadpool 2, then postponed because of Disney buying Fox, The New Mutants is getting postponed again thanks to Coronavirus. This might be the best thing to come out of this pandemic, because there’s no way this film is any good if it keeps getting pushed back.
Sonic the Hedgehog
The film based on the Sega icon has had a relatively successful opening in the US, but the games’ Chinese fans will have to wait a little longer for the adaptation. Paramount delayed the film’s China release back in February, saying a new date will be determined once the theaters reopen.
No Time to Die
Just like Daniel Craig in the lead role, we’re stuck waiting longer to get the hopefully final installment of Craig’s Bond films out of the way. Originally scheduled for a worldwide debut April 10th, Sony became the first to delay the entire premiere of a film with No Time to Die.
After initially just cancelling the Chinese release and press tour, Sony went back and pushed the film’s release to November 25th. Of course, this is saying we actually care about James Bond anymore, which we don’t.
A Quiet Place 2
The most recent film casualty was the highly anticipated sequel to John Krasinski’s directorial debut. The director made the announcement via Twitter on March 12th that the film’s global release is being delayed thanks to the virus. Considering the first movie only made 10% of its gross in China, with the majority of its money coming from the US, it’s surprising they cancelled the US premiere.
Paramount hasn’t announced a new date for the horror sequel at this time, so it’s unknown if the film will try for a later summer release or aim for a winter release.
