Not even 24 hours after MGM, Universal, and Sony announced major release date changes to their Q1 theatrical schedule, Disney has pushed several of its 20th Century Studios features to later dates.
The first to be moved is Matthew Vaughn's The King's Man, which has been moved from March 12 to August 20, 2021. Second on the chopping block is Bob's Burgers, which is now unset after losing its April 9, 2021 release date. Lastly, the Locksmith Animation movie Ron’s Gone Wrong has been moved from April 23 to October 22, 2021. These changes come after movies like No Time to Die, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Morbius, Uncharted, and Cinderella were all delayed, with some of them being pushed into 2022.
For the time being, Disney fans can still look forward to the day-and-date theatrical and Disney+ premium release of Raya and the Last Dragon on March 5. Beyond that, the House of Mouse is still holding to its summer theatrical schedule with Marvel’s Black Widow hoping for a May 7 premiere, followed by Free Guy on May 21, Cruella on May 28, Pixar’s Luca on June 18, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on July 9, Searchlight’s The Night House on July 16, Jungle Cruise on July 30, 20th’s Deep Water on Aug. 13, then King’s Man, and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back on Aug. 27.
Will any of these films actually make it to theaters on their intended dates? Let's just say that I have my doubts. The fact of the matter is that until the Covid vaccine is distributed en masse, film fans are still in danger of catching a potentially deadly disease from their fellow moviegoers. My hope is that the next few months see the world grabbing this pandemic by the horns and taking control of an awful, overlong situation. We want our movie theaters back, dammit, but not if it's going to cost lives. They say that teamwork makes the dream work, right? Let's get to work!