Disney Has "No Projections" On When Marvel Studios' Films & Other Productions Will Resume Work

With theaters beginning to share their reopening plans and some states actually allowing cinemas to open their doors already, the box office is apparently on track to return sometime around mid-summer. However, what the film and TV industry is still figuring out is when people can get back to work on the productions that were halted due to COVID-19. And according to the CEO of Disney, there’s no timetable for that happening anytime soon.

In a recent conference call (via Deadline), Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that there are “no projections” about when production on the studio’s slate of films and TV series, including the Marvel Studios films and series that were suspended, will begin again. That being said, Chapek assured everyone that when productions do ramp up again, “we will be very responsible in terms of masks… when we proceed.”

Obviously, this is an issue that is affecting every studio working on projects right now, in addition to the number of projects that were supposed to begin filming soon but are being delayed. But in terms of Disney, the studio responsible for almost 40% of the North American box office, has a ton of high-profile projects that are currently in a holding state due to the pandemic, including the filming of Marvel projects such as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and several Disney+ series like “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” “Loki,” and “WandaVision.”

While we’ve already seen Marvel Studios delay the release of its entire Phase 4 slate, which was supposed to kick off last week with “Black Widow” (now being released in November), it’s unclear how these delays will affect the TV series and future films. Disney also had expected to begin production on “The Little Mermaid” and various other films that were likely going to be massive releases in 2021 and beyond.

TL;DR—The world might be trying to reopen this summer but it appears that we’re a long ways off from seeing films from major studios begin work again. And that could have some serious ripple effects in the months and years to come.