Lionsgate Changes Release Date of DIRTY DANCING Sequel and the WONDER Story Film WHITE BIRD

Lionsgate Shifts Release Dates Due to Occurring Strikes

Lionsgate has postponed the releases of White Bird and the highly anticipated Dirty Dancing sequel due to both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Lionsgate was going to drop its heartfelt Wonder story, White Bird, into the late August release schedule this summer but, now, with little hope of its stars Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson doing promotion for the film (thanks to the actors’ strike), they have switched the release date to later in the year positioning the film as potential Oscar bait instead. At the same time, Lionsgate has pushed back their highly awaited Dirty Dancing sequel for more than a year. So, audiences won’t be having the time of their lives again until at least the summer of 2025.

White Bird is directed by Marc Forster and the new Dirty Dancing is helmed by Jonathan Levine. While White Bird comes on the heels of 2017’s much loved Wonder, it is a much different story despite its similarities in terms of being a heart-warming movie from the same author’s work. Wonder scooped up over $132 million at the domestic box-office which would be hard for White Bird to do in the doldrums of August without support from its stars publicity-wise. Wonder received an “A+” CinemaScore grade and it is expected for White Bird to follow suit thanks to its moving thematic elements.

The Dirty Dancing sequel is another animal altogether when it comes to expectations by fans of the 1987 classic movie, Dirty Dancing. Coming 38 years after the first movie which starred the now deceased Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey (who should return in the sequel), the Levine-directed movie was slated for February 2024 initially but has now been postponed to the summer of 2025 where it will most likely flourish at the box-office if it gets fans of the original movie to pack into theaters.

Could this switch in release dates be more beneficial than hurtful for the respective films in question? Absolutely. With White Bird fresh in their minds, Oscar voters could find it in their hearts to sneak the film into the Academy Awards race in some high-profile categories especially when considering the overall snub of director Forster’s great A Man Called Otto earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Dirty Dancing‘s true follow-up should find some success at the box-office and the time in which it has been delayed will help more word of mouth build and heighten the anticipation of the film which is going to be one of the biggest summer movies of 2025 if it turns out as expected.

While White Bird may not make the same box-office numbers as Wonder given the heavy competition coming out later this year, I now expect it to earn at least $80 million as compared to the $45 million it was projected to earn if it came out on its original August release date.

Leave your thoughts on the delayed release dates of White Bird and Dirty Dancing‘s sequel below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more movie news can visit our Movie News Page, our Movie News Twitter Page, and our Movie News Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, and Flipboard. This news was brought to our attention by Deadline.