The surge of the COVID-19 Delta variant has spurred many companies to rethink their relaxed COVID safety protocols, including movie studios, now forced to reconsider already-planned release dates for their upcoming films.
With the global COVID-19 pandemic seemingly on the wane until only recently, movie studios had started to put many of their oft-delayed films back on their release schedules, but some executives are again ow thinking twice. “If I knew six weeks ago what I know now,” said one studio executive, “I would have moved everything as far out as early next year.”
Another added there was no chance of further release delays being considered just weeks ago, but now, “It’s a maybe.”
Some anticipated movies have already been delayed. Sony has pushed back the previously planned Sep. 24 release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage to Oct. 15, and abandoned theatrical release plans entirely for Transylvania 4: Transformania, instead selling off the release to Amazon Prime.
This fall is also expected to see the release of blockbusters like Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick and Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but any potential delays for these films have not been announced by the studios.
During the height of the pandemic, studios eventually released some repeatedly postponed projects, like Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II, which had been delayed over a year. Warner Bros. opted for a day-and-date release for films such as Wonder Woman 1984 and Godzilla vs. Kong simultaneously in theaters and its HBO Max streaming service. Disney released Mulan and Black Widow on its Disney+ service, but subscribers had to pay extra.
The number of new COVID infections had reached an all-time low at the start of summer, but the onset of the new and more contagious Delta variant has since resulted in a surge among the unvaccinated. The resurgence has resulted in many businesses and local governments reinstating COVID safety measures that had previously been relaxed.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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