Another day, another round of release date changes.
Paramount has announced that Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 have both been officially pushed back a few months from their original release dates. Mission: Impossible 7 has moved from July 21, 2021 to November 19, 2021. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible 8 has moved from August 5, 2022 to November 4, 2022.
Over at Sony, the studio has continued delaying Spider-Man related properties. The untitled third Spider-Man MCU movie has moved back four months from July 16, 2021 to November 5, 2021. Additionally, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 has been pushed back five months from its original April 2022 release date to October 7, 2022. The studio has also bumped up Uncharted by a few months. Originally set to open in October 2021, it will now hit theaters on July 16, 2021.
These changes have resulted in Marvel Studios shifting its Phase 4 schedule once again. Thor: Love & Thunder will now open on February 11, 2022 while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will open on March 25, 2022. Those are a couple of pretty close releases, but I reckon Marvel had no other choice. If they want Phase 4 to roll out on schedule some sacrifices had to be made. Especially since WandaVision (supposedly out this year) is supposed to lead into Doctor Strange 2.
The 2021 and 2022 release calendars continue to grow with films originally slated for 2020 being delayed due to COVID-19. It will be interesting to see how awards shows like the Oscars and the Golden Globes adapt to a significantly lower playing field. All I know is that the 2021 SAWards will definitely be interesting.
Do you think 2021 will end up as a banner year for films? Could movie theaters being closed for so long actually have a positive effect on the industry when they finally reopen?
