In response to the in time to screen Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 on their scheduled dates), there's just too much uncertainty for studios to bank on that happening.
Since the virus took a turn for the worse in March, virtually every film has been pulled from the calendar on through to the middle of July. Some are still awaiting a new date or, in a few cases (like if theaters will be able to reopen in 2020 at all, many studios aren't taking the risk and have shifted their biggest movies out of this year and into 2021.
Most of the 2020 movies delayed to 2021 will be finished well before they're scheduled to premiere, yet these changes are a testament to just how much studios are concerned about theaters struggling to safely reopen this year and, if they do, how it might affect box office performances. The pandemic is still a fluid situation and there's simply too much potential money on the line for Hollywood to gamble with the fates of so many major titles. So, with that being said, here are the biggest movies that've seen their release dates pushed from 2020 to 2021.
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
The sequel to Sony's Peter Rabbit, which released in 2018, follows Peter (once again voiced by James Corden) as he ventures out of the safety of his garden and into the world, in an attempt to prove he's still as mischievous as ever. Sony was quick to delay this one after the coronavirus outbreak went south in March, moving it back from its original spot on April 3 to August 7. However, the studio has since abandoned Summer 2020 altogether, moving Peter Rabbit 2 to January 15, 2021 and making it the first major family-friendly film to hit theaters next year.
Eternals
Due to the interconnected nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's all but impossible for one MCU film to change release dates without having a domino effect on the ones scheduled to follow. Sure enough, after Disney delayed Eternals to February 12, 2021 and giving its old spot on November 6, 2020 to Scarlett Johansson's Phase 4 prequel. Eternals will now face-off against Paramount's rom-com adventure Monster Problems, but is expected to win that box office battle pretty readily.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Jason Reitman directs the long-awaited sequel to his father Ivan's Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II, which follows a single mom (Carrie Coon) and her children (Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard) as they move to a small town and discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters. Originally scheduled to open on July 10, the film was delayed as part of Sony's mass exodus out of Summer 2020 and will now arrive on March 5, 2021. For the time being, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the only wide release slated to premiere on that day.
Raya and the Last Dragon
An original offering from Disney Animation Studios, Soul no longer able to open in June as planned, Disney has delayed it to November 25 and shifted Raya back to March 12, 2021.
The Many Saints of Newark
David Chases's The Sopranos remains one of the most acclaimed cable TV series of the 21st century, long after its much-debated finale aired on HBO in 2007. Co-written by Chase, The Many Saints of Newark is a prequel exploring the tensions between the Italian-American and black communities in Newark around the time of the Newark riots in 1967, and was initially scheduled for September 25, 2020. It has since been pushed back to March 12, 2021 as part of Warner Bros.' reshuffled release slate, positioning it as counter-programming to Raya and the Last Dragon that weekend.
Morbius
Prior to the pandemic, Sony had not one, but two films set in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (Morbius, stars Jared Leto as the titular scientist-turned vampiric antihero and was initially slated to bow this summer on July 31. It has since been rescheduled for March 19, 2021, where it's tentatively set to face-off with the new Paranormal Activity movie and sequel to the 2018 Tomb Raider reboot (assuming neither of those films are delayed - which they're likely to be).
Fast & Furious 9
Universal was quick to respond to the coronavirus outbreak in March, announcing it was delaying Fast & Furious 9 (aka. F9) a whole year from its original day on May 22, 2020 to April 2, 2021. The Fast & Furious brand is a massive draw globally (the last two films made over $1 billion outside the U.S.), so there's no way the studio's going to release the latest installment until it can play in the majority of countries around the world. in the meantime, fans will just have to be patient and wait to find out how Han comes back from the dead (among other things).
Fatherhood
An adaptation of Matthew Logelin's Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love, Fatherhood stars Kevin Hart as a single dad who struggles to care for his baby daughter when his wife unexpectedly dies shortly after giving birth. The Sony drama has changed release dates several times over now because of the coronavirus, but was slated to open as early as April 3, 2020 at one point. At the moment, though, Fatherhood is scheduled to arrive a year later on April 2, 2021, in the hopes of appealing to moviegoers in the mood for something a little more grounded than F9 that weekend.
Bob's Burgers: The Movie
A big screen adaptation of the long-running animated Fox sitcom, Bob's Burgers: The Movie is described as being a musical comedy about the Belcher clan and their daily lives. It was originally scheduled to open this year on July 17, prior to Disney overhauling its release slate on through to 2022 (including, the various films it acquired from its purchase of Fox in 2019) in response to the pandemic. Bob's Burgers will now make its way into theaters on April 9, 2021, putting it in a strong position to thrive as a comical alternative to the physics-defying spectacle of Fast & Furious 9.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Many horror fans raised an eyebrow at Chris Rock starring in a Saw movie (one he co-wrote the story for) when it was first announced, but have since come around to the idea based on the intriguing trailer for Spiral: From the Book of Saw. Lionsgate clearly has high hopes for the franchise continuation and recently had Spiral scheduled to open on May 15, prior to delaying it indefinitely in reaction to the ongoing health crisis. It has since elected to move the film back twelve months to May 21, 2021, making it the first horror movie to plant its flag in the sand that month.
