Walt Disney Co on Wednesday postponed the release of superhero movie Black Widow and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story until 2021, a setback to cinema operators hoping for a late-year surge in moviegoing.
The films were among the biggest titles remaining on Hollywood’s schedule for 2020. Black Widow was delayed by six months until May 2021 and West Side Story, a film version of the classic Broadway musical, by a year to December 2021.
The changes follow disappointing efforts to get Americans back into movie theaters after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered cinemas worldwide in March.
Theaters remain closed in Los Angeles and New York, the two largest moviegoing hubs in the United States. Big chains including AMC Entertainment AMC.N and Cineworld Plc's CINE.L Regal Cinemas have reopened in other US cities.
The few blockbusters left on this year include James Bond film No Time to Die, due to debut on November 20, and Wonder Woman 1984, which recently moved to December 25.
Disney and others have shuffled their schedules several times as they try to gauge when the pandemic will fade enough to bring audiences back to multiplexes. Some movies have skipped theaters and gone straight to streaming services.
Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as the Marvel action hero, had originally been scheduled for May before Disney moved it to November 6.
Disney on Wednesday also moved back Agatha Christie mystery Death on the Nile to December 2020 from October, and Marvel’s Eternals to November 2021 from February 2021.
“Marvel made the right and responsible decision,” “Eternals” star Kumail Nanjiani wrote on Twitter. “There’s a pandemic. Nothing is more important than health and lives. I can’t tell (people) to go to a movie theater until I feel safe going to one.”
Eternals delayed to Nov 5, 2021. Marvel made the right & 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.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) September 23, 2020
Take care of yourselves. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!
Disney still plans to release the animated Pixar movie Soul in theaters on November 20.
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