The last month has seen a lot of release date changes, some for the better and some for the worse. Let’s run them down.
First up, Premier Access over on Disney+ must be raking in the dollar bills because Disney has decided to use it for their next two big ticket films. Black Widow has moved from May 7 to July 9, 2021 and will debut both in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access for $30. Is that better than seeing it in theaters? I don’t know, but I do know that I’ll see this one in theaters. It deserves the big screen.
Cruella will also be doing the hybrid theater/Disney+ Premier Access release on May 28, 2021. The new Pixar movie Luca has also become a Disney+ exclusive film. It will hit the streaming service on June 18, 2021. It will not be under the Premier Access tier, so it will be free to watch for those who have just subscribed to the service. In international markets where Disney+ is not yet available, Luca will be released theatrically.
Disney has also shuffled one other MCU film and some of their 20th Century Fox films. Here are their new release dates:
- Free Guy (August 13, 2021)
- Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3, 2021)
- The King’s Man (December 22, 2021)
- Deep Water (January 14, 2022)
- Death on the Nile (February 11, 2022)
Moving over to Netflix, the streamer announced that The Mitchells vs. the Machines, formerly Connected, will begin streaming on April 30, 2021. They also announced that Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi, Conan O’Brien, Sasheer Zamata, Elle Mills, Jay Pharoah, Alex Hirsch, and Griffin McElroy had joined the voice cast.
Universal has pushed F9, the ninth instalment in The Fast Saga, from May 28 to June 25, 2021. They also pushed Minions 2 back another year to July 1, 2022. Sony responded to the F9 move by pushing Venom: Let There Be Carnage out of its June 25 slot and over to September 17, 2021. They also removed the Kevin Hart-Jason Statham movie Man from Toronto off the release calendar.
Lionsgate also joined in on the release date shuffling by pushing Wrath of Man, the new Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham movie, from April 23 to May 7, 2021. But, in a shocking move, they decided to push up the release of Spiral: From the Book of Saw from May 21 to May 14, 2021.
Finally, MGM has confirmed that Michael B. Jordan will be directing Creed III and that it will release in theaters on November 23, 2022.
Oh, and for a little good news, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will be coming back to Dolby Cinema theaters for one week to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It will boast new sound and image courtesy of new Dolby technology. It begins playing on April 30, 2021.
That’s a lot of release date shuffling. Do you think we will still have a summer movie season? Or is this just the beginning of more release delays?
