BLACK WIDOW, ETERNALS, WEST SIDE STORY & More New Theatrical Release Dates Announced Due to Covid-19

New Theatrical Release Dates Announced for Black Widow, Eternals, West Side Story, and more films

Disney has postponed the release of its fall blockbusters, including Marvel’s Black Widow, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile for several months.

The consequences are bad news for the industry, which is facing severe financial troubles after being closed during quarantine. Disney has maintained the late November release date of Pixar’s Soul, surprising many in the industry who expected the animated family film to either be postponed or released on Disney Plus. The moves set off a cascade of distribution shifts that will upend the theatrical landscape for months. Other Marvel releases, such as Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals will all be pushed back later into 2021. Disney’s deferrals most likely mean that box office revenues this year will tank. Indeed, analysts had already projected that domestic box office would decline between 70% to 80% due to the pandemic.

Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, was set to premiere on November sixth, a date that started to look increasingly improbable as movie theaters on the coasts remained closed. Variety has previously reported that the studio had been weighing a new time to unveil the film after the disappointing domestic box office of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and the delay of Wonder Woman 1984. Black Widow has been pushed back to May seventh of 2021.

Eternals star, Kumail Nanjiani endorsed the move on Twitter, saying “Marvel made the right and responsible decision. There’s a pandemic. Nothing is more important than health & lives. I can’t tell ppl to go to a movie theater until I feel safe going to one.” He added, “Take care of yourselves. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!“

Two movies will actually be debuting earlier in the Fall lineup. The Empty Man, a horror film with James Badge Dale, will be released on October twenty third 2020 instead of December fourth. The King’s Man, previously set to open on February twenty sixth 2021, is getting moved up two weeks to February twelfth. However, this new entry in the spy franchise was initially intended to premiere this month.

Nearly 70% of North American movie theaters have reopened in recent weeks to correspond with the release of Tenet. Now, exhibitors face the potential of months without new content to offer audiences.

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