It finally happened. After more than a week of being “semi-official,” it appears that Disney has pulled the trigger and reshuffled its entire film slate yet again, in the wake of recent theatrical developments. Now, it appears that “Black Widow” is finally confirmed for 2021, but not February, as many predicted. No, we’re going to have to wait a full year after its original release date to see Scarlett Johansson’s MCU swansong.
Disney has announced that “Black Widow” is moving from its November 6 release date to May 7, 2021 (more than a year after its original May 1, 2020 release date). And as you might expect, this pushes every Marvel Studios film in accordance, with “Eternals” moving from February 12, 2021, to November 5, 2021, and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” from May 7, 2021, to July 9, 2021. And while the rest of the dates of the MCU Phase 4 features have yet to be adjusted, we can only assume the domino effect will continue with the entire slate.
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But Disney is way bigger than just Marvel Studios and the Mouse House didn’t stop reshuffling its schedule with just Marvel projects. We also saw the delay of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” from this Christmas to December 10, 2021, a full year delay. There’s also “Death on the Nile,” which is moving from October 30 to December 18. And finally, the erotic thriller “Deep Water,” starring Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck, is moving from November 2020 to August 13, 2021.
Interestingly, the one that was expected to be affected the most, Pixar’s “Soul,” is not moving to Disney+, as was previously reported. Instead, Disney is holding firm with its November 20 release date, which puts it opposite “No Time to Die,” vying for theater real estate in a time when that is a very difficult commodity to come by.
READ MORE: ‘Synchronic’ Filmmakers Urge People To Avoid Going To Indoor Cinemas To Watch Their Film
Ultimately, you can see that Disney (which normally accounts for roughly 40% of the year’s total box office) is basically packing up shop for 2020 and banking on 2021 to be the year people return to films. Sure, the studio will throw theaters a bone with “Soul” and “Death on the Nile,” but the big money makers are now setting up shop in 2021. Yet another terrible day to be a theater owner.
Here’s the full list of changes:
DEATH ON THE NILE (20th) previously dated on 10/23/20 moves to 12/18/20THE EMPTY MAN (20th) previously dated on 12/4/20 moves to 10/23/20BLACK WIDOW (Disney) previously dated on 11/6/20 moves to 5/7/21ETERNALS (Disney) previously dated on 2/12/21 moves to 11/5/21
SHANG CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Disney) previously dated on 5/7/21 moves to 7/9/21UNTITLED DISNEY EVENT FILM (Disney) previously dated on 7/9/21 is removed from schedule
DEEP WATER (20th) previously dated on 11/13/20 moves to 8/13/21
UNTITLED 20TH CENTURY (20th) previously dated on 8/13/21 is removed from schedule
WEST SIDE STORY (20th) previously dated on 12/18/20 moves to 12/10/21THE KING’S MAN (20th) previously dated on 2/26/21 moves to 2/12/21
