As Hollywood continues to figure out how to tackle the rippling effects of a global pandemic that has all but halted life as we know it, major studios have been reshuffling their release schedules to try and mitigate the impact of theater closures and absentee audiences. Today’s news involves two much-anticipated productions: Steven Spielberg’s take on the iconic West Side Story and Marvel superhero flick Black Widow.
Spielberg's effort in particular is being delayed by twelve months. Originally scheduled to hit cinemas on December 18 of this year, it will now be released on December 10, 2021.
Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, will move from November 6, 2020 to May 7, 2021, while the starry Poirot mystery Death on the Nile has gone back from October to December 18.
Smaller scale movies, on the other hand, are sticking to their original runs. Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds, will still hit theaters on December 11, while Pixar’s Soul will still drop on November 20.
This latest round of decisions has undoubtedly been affected by Tenet’s less than stellar box-office performance. The first major movie to be released since the pandemic hit—and a much anticipated one at that—Tenet struggled with cinemas in New York, LA and San Francisco still shuttered.
In more encouraging news, the new Bond movie, No Time to Die, is still holding the line on its planned release date. It’ll be out on November 12 in the UK, Europe and Australia, and November 20 in the US.