Earlier, I posted about the news that Cineworld (Regal Cinemas parent company) secured new funding to help the company survive for now, in hopes that 2021 will offer a new chance to reopen and attract customers to theaters. Well, about that. It appears that the exciting 2021 release schedule is already taking a hit, as Universal moves its new film, “The 355,” from January 2021 to January 2022.
According to Deadline, Universal has officially pushed the release date of Simon Kinberg’s upcoming action film, “The 355,” from its January 15, 2021 date to January 14, 2022. Yes, a full year. Why? Well, a formal reason wasn’t given, but we can only assume it’s due to the incredibly lackluster box office numbers being put up right now, as theaters begin to shut down again due to COVID spikes and the general public continues to be concerned about heading to enclosed spaces for extended periods of time to watch a film. So, now one or the biggest releases in January is packing up shop and moving to 2022.
While “The 355,” which has an all-star cast led by Jessica Chastain, is a film that people have been anticipating and looking forward to seeing in early 2021, the news about the delay is less alarming for those folks and scarier for people concerned that we’re looking at the first quarter of 2021 releases being decimated as we’ve seen for the majority of 2020. Outside of “The 355,” January’s next biggest film is “Mortal Kombat,” but with nary a marketing material being released for that feature, we have to assume that action film is going to be pushed eventually, as well. That leaves February, which currently is home to “The King’s Man” and the horror film, “Antlers.” With “Wonder Woman 1984” hitting streaming the same day as theaters on Christmas Day and “The 355” now moved to 2022, will 20th Century Studios (and its parent company, Disney) take a chance and release “The King’s Man” as the first major release of 2021? Ehhhhh. Given how Disney has been gunshy about releasing anything in theaters right now, that seems completely unrealistic.
All that to say, “The 355” might just be the first domino to fall in 2021, but it’s likely that it won’t be the last. And if that’s the case, all eyes are going to be on spring 2021 and the blockbusters that are currently scheduled there. If those films move? 2021 is going to be a really rough year for theaters.