Movies

Avatar 2, Mulan and Top Gun among films hit by further release date delays as Hollywood continues to reel from pandemic


Avatar 2, Mulan, A Quiet Place II and Top Gun: Maverick are all delayed

Avatar 2, Mulan, Top Gun and A Quiet Place Part II are just a small handful of the movies facing newly-announced delays this week.

The new round of pushbacks comes amid the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the film industry – and a recent surge of new cases in the US.

It’s certainly a frustrating time to be a movie fan.

(If you want to watch Jurassic Park for the 375th time to ease the pain… that’s OK.)

Among old classics screening at drive-in cinemas and huge releases going straight to streaming, here’s the latest on new movie release dates, with some announced delays spanning a few months or a year – with others on indefinite hiatus.

The first Avatar movie came out 11 years ago! (Picture: Moviestore/REX)

Avatar 2

Avatar fans have already faced an agonising wait for the follow-up to James Cameron’s all-conquering tale of human beings going native on alien planet Pandora.

The original film, which starred Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, came out in 2009… and Avatar 2 has been in the works ever since.

Avatar 2 has now been delayed from 17 December 2021 to 16 December 2022. The other films in the franchise will be released every other December, Disney have said, finishing with Avatar 5 in 2028 (!).

Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place Part II (Picture: Paramount)

A Quiet Place Part II

John Krasinski and wife Emily Blunt scored a huge hit with their tale of a family taking on super sound-sensitive predators in 2018’s A Quiet Place.

The sequel, once again directed by John, was all ready to go by March 2020 – but was initially pushed back to 6 September 2020.

However, it was this week revealed the film will now be released on 23 April 2021 in the US – indicating a similar release date elsewhere.

This is not music to our ears.

Tom Cruise in 1986’s Top Gun: face it, he looks exactly the same now (Picture: Moviestore/REX)

Top Gun: Maverick

The sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 aviation classic was going to be released on 23 December 2020.

The film – once again starring Cruise and Val Kilmer – will now be released on 2 July 2021 in the US, and hopefully around then everywhere else.

No Time To Die was moved back to November (Picture: Universal Pictures)

No Time To Die

Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond was due for April 2020.

At present, it’s slated for 12 November 2020 in the UK and 20 November in the US – a delay of seven months.

Which, compared to some of the films on this list, isn’t too painful.

Liu Yifei as Mulan in the upcoming movie (Picture: Disney)

Mulan

Like A Quiet Place II, the cast of Mulan were already mid-promo when Covid-19 really took hold this spring, having had its Hollywood premiere on 9 March.

Its 27 March release date has since been pushed back four times. It was eyeing a 21 August 2021 release date, but has now been delayed indefinitely.

A Disney rep said in a statement this week: ‘Over the last few months, it’s become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world.’

We wonder if a Disney+ release is a possibility?

Candyman

All eyes are on this remake of the 1992 horror classic – whose titular protagonist is summoned when you say his name five times – to continue the modern trend for high brow horror hits.

Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, the movie has been pushed back from its original release date of 12 June to 16 October 2020.

Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow (Picture: AP)

Black Widow

The Scarlett Johansson and
Florence Pugh-starring Black Widow has been pushed back to 6 November 2020… a delay of five months.

We recommend diving into Florence’s stellar filmography – including Midsommar and Little Women – in the meantime.

Spy thriller Tenet stars David John Washington (Picture: Warner Bros.)

Tenet

Like Mulan. Tenet, the new Christopher Nolan movie, was touted to save cinemas this summer.

However, it has since been delayed indefinitely.

Warner Bros boss Toby Emmerich said in a statement this week: ‘We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s wholly original and mind-blowing feature.

‘Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen.’

Wonder Woman’s amazing (but now outdated) poster (Picture: Warner Bros.)

Wonder Woman 1984

Gal Gadot’s superhero sequel was slated for 5 June 2020. Currently, the release date stands as 2 October 2020 in the US and the UK.

We imagine Gal’s disappointed!

Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars (Picture: AP)

Star Wars

Finally, three Star Wars films have also been delayed.

The first untitled movie has shifted from December 2022 to a year later, while the two others will be released in December 2025 and December 2027 respectively.

We can’t wait. Literally.

One thing’s for sure though – John Boyega won’t be in them, having recently confirmed he’s ‘moved on’ from the franchise.

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