It really is the month of movie delays, where films of all sizes and types realize that maybe their safer release dates aren’t going to work out after all. Not too long ago it was announced thatNo Time to Diewould be getting a delay, angering many theater owners, and on top of that,Fast & Furious 9also got a slight delay. It’s not all bad news however, whileThe Batmanis officially delayed to 2022,TheMatrix 4, in a surprising move, has actually been pushed up to 2021.
The Batmanbeing delayed isn’t the most surprising news,after the difficulties with productionand a suite of other DC films getting pushed back, but theTheMatrix 4info is quite interesting. Warner Bros. has yet to comment on why it has moved up one movie while pushing back everything else; perhapsTheMatrix 4has simply been going more smoothly than other projects, or maybe the film is just considered a higher priority than others. It’s hard to say, but it is strange that this project in particular is getting moved forward while Warner Bros. continues to delay other films to the point of taking them off the release schedule.
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Still, it is disappointing to see more delay news, even if it’s for the best. Between all the big studios holding onto their projects for the time being, 2021 and 2022 are going to be absolutely filled to bursting with big name releases. That is, provided the Coronavirus pandemic clears up andpeople are actually able to go see them. For the time being, a great deal of theaters in the United States are still closed, meaning one of the world’s biggest movie-watching audiences is currently off the table, at least for theater releases.
With every movie being shifted around these days, there is some speculation about what will be delayed indefinitely and what will find a release on VOD or streaming.Mulanwas the first really big movie to bite the bullet and release in an alternative format, thoughTrolls: World Tourproved it could be done successfully some time beforehand. BetweenMulan’s somewhat iffy returns andTenet’sdisappointing box office however, it seems most studios are stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of release options, and audiences may not be seeing many new films for quite some time.
TheMatrix4will releasein December of 2021, whileThe Batmanis currently scheduled for 2022.
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