As the Coronavirus is wreaking havoc around the world, and knocking the wind out of Hollywood, Disney is making adjustments. While closing down everything Disney related, they are keeping a positive outlook giving “Mulan” a pushed back summer release date. As many experts have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic may extend into the summer, don’t be surprised if “Mulan” gets pushed into the fall or just a streaming release.
Friday saw the Walt Disney Company overhauling its release schedule by moving the dates of half a dozen Marvel movies, announcing a new one for the live-action adaption of “Mulan” and pushing one movie, “Artemis Fowl,” to Disney Plus, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Black Widow
“Black Widow,” the Marvel entry starring Scarlett Johansson, had been set to kick off the summer movie season. Instead, Disney said it will now open Nov. 6. Such delays have unique ramifications for Marvel movies because of their interconnection. With “Black Widow” on the move, that meant a domino effect, pushing most all upcoming Marvel releases back at least three months.
“Black Widow” took the release date of “The Eternals,” which now moves to February 21 next year. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” departs that February date for May 7, 2021. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” shifts from next May to Nov. 5, 2021. And “Thor: Love and Thunder” is pushed three months, to Feb. 18, 2022.
Captain Marvel 2
“Captain Marvel 2” is set to hit theaters July 8, 2022 replacing another untitled Marvel movie that was supposed to be released on July 29, 2022.
Directors of the original “Captain Marvel,” aren’t expected to return as Megan McDonnell has been reported to be writing the script. Marvel is still on the hunt for a new director.
“Captain Marvel,” set in the 1990s, was a prequel that explored the origin story starring Brie Larson. The sequel is said to be set in present day, and fans are very curious as to how the character will fit into the present Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Captain Marvel is the most powerful being in the entire universe, which came in rather handy for “Avengers: Endgame” when it came to take out Thanos. We have heard that the film may cover her travels around the universe defeating other enemies. Theories have abounded that Marvel is working up the storyline of Kree vs Skrull war in the next franchise series of films, so “Captain Marvel 2” could provide a great key in that puzzle.
Sam Raimi for Captain Marvel 2 director
As we were writing this, I’ve had three good sources that Sam Raimi is who Marvel really wants for the sequel.
Mulan
Disney isn’t abandoning the summer completely. “Mulan,” which been scheduled for March and already had its red carpet premiere, will now open July 24. The company also didn’t move the Pixar release “Soul” from its June 19 release date. Those plans, of course, are subject to movie theaters being reopened by then and the pandemic subsiding.
Artemis Fowl
While Disney shifted nearly all of its big-budget movies, it’s going to send one to its streaming service. The Kenneth Branagh-directed science fiction adventure adaptation “Artemis Fowl” will go to Disney Plus instead of opening in theaters. The movie had originally been slate for release last August but had been rescheduled for May of this year. With the exception of Universal’s “Trolls World Tour,” the major studios have chosen to delay their top releases rather than push them to digital release and sacrifice box-office revenue.
Jungle Cruise
“Jungle Cruise,” with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, is being pushed back a full year to July 30, 2021. The release of the fifth “Indiana Jones” movie, which Steven Spielberg last month departed as director with James Mangold replacing him, is also being delayed a full year, to July 2022. Harrison Ford will be 80 years old by then.
Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” is also postponed from July to Oct. 16.
On Thursday, the Walt Disney Co. announced they will start furloughing some workers in two weeks at its theme parks resorts in Florida and California.
The full list change is just below:
- BLACK WIDOW (Disney) is now dated on 11/6/20
- THE ETERNALS (Disney) previously dated on 11/6/20 moves to 2/12/21
- SHANG CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Disney) previously dated on 2/12/21 moves to 5/7/21
- DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (Disney) previously dated on 5/7/21 moves to 11/5/21
- THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (Disney) previously dated on 11/5/21 moves to 2/18/22
- UNTITLED MARVEL (Disney) previously dated on 2/18/22 is removed from schedule
- CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 (Disney) is the updated title of previous UNTITLED MARVEL dated on 7/29/22, and moves to 7/8/22