by Conan Simmons – September 23, 2020 – 7:23 pm
In an entirely expected turn, Disney has postponed the release of the upcoming Marvel film ‘Black Widow’ starring Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. This move makes 2020 the first year since 2009 that there are no new MCU movies being released to theaters. ‘The New Mutants’, which continues to hold steady at 2nd place in the box office, is not part of the MCU instead being an extension of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise which effectively came to an end after Disney acquired the studio.
‘Black Widow’ will be moving from it’s November 6 release date to May 7, 2021. That date was originally set for another MCU film, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’, starring Tony Leung. ‘Shang-Chi’ is now set for July 9, 2021.
Interestingly, the MCU star packed ‘Eternals’, originally set to follow ‘Black Widow’ with a February 12, 2021 release, will now be pushed to follow ‘Shang-Chi’, coming out on November 5, 2021. The effect that has on overall story coherence for the MCU remains to be seen.
Marvel films aren’t the only ones being delayed. Steven Spielberg’s much touted remake of 1961’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, ‘West Side Story’, will be singing its tune not on December 18, 2020 but rather December 10, 2021, a full year postponement. This indicates the picture is a shoe-in for major Oscar contention and that whatever contract the studios have with the filmmakers mandated a theatrical release (much the same issue with ‘The New Mutants’).
Agatha Christie’s ‘Death on the Nile’, a follow up to ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, is moving from October 23 to December 18 of this year, filling the space left by ‘West Side Story’. The adaptation of the famous mystery is expected to do well at the box office whenever it does manage to see the light of the silver screen.
Most other release dates are being held the same until further notice. There will undoubtedly be more delays as the U.S. continues to slip backwards and away from being a world leader. One notable development, Disney has not announced any films moving away from theatrical release to its streaming service Disney+ in a clear indication that ‘Mulan’ performed poorly on the platform.