Disney pushes Black Widow to 2021, other movies rescheduled
The anticipated upcoming Marvel thriller has had its release date pushed back again. It’s among half a dozen titles to be delayed.
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The upcoming Marvel movie Black Widow has been pushed to 2021 amid continuing concerns over the COVID pandemic.
Black Widow is among half a dozen titles Disney has rescheduled today in the US. Australian release dates have yet to be confirmed but it’s expected it will follow suit.
The Scarlett Johansson superhero action thriller was to be released on October 29 in Australia (November 6 in the US) but has now been delayed until May 2021.
While the change may disappoint fans, who were looking forward to Johansson’s first solo outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the decision at least reinforces Disney’s commitment to a cinema release instead of a streaming release, as it did when it shifted Mulan to Disney+.
Black Widow was originally scheduled for release in late-April this year before it was derailed by the pandemic.
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Soft box office results for Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Tenet, especially in the US, has spurred several movie studios to further push back its tentpole properties over fears the current economic climate means they won’t make their money back on expensive production budgets.
Cinemas are operating at limited capacity and audiences in key markets are reluctant to return to public spaces.
Two weeks ago, Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984 was pushed from early October to the end of December.
The Black Widow move has a run-on effect for two other Marvel movies that were scheduled for 2021, with Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings now pushed from May to July and Eternals from February until November 2021.
Shang-Chi is currently filming in Sydney.
Disney has also moved Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story from December 2020 to December 2021 while the Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas thriller Deep Water shifts from November to August 2021.
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Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, a follow-up to Murder on the Orient Express, moves from October to December.
Pixar movie Soul has not been moved, currently still slated for release in December in Australia.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry, disrupting release schedules and productions, which is only now starting to resume in pockets around the world.
The big-name films currently still looking to be released this year include the new Bond film, No Time To Die on November 12, Dune on December 17 and Wonder Woman 1984 on December 26.
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Originally published as Disney pushes Black Widow to 2021, other movies rescheduled