Several of Hollywood’s major studios are reacting in very different ways to the continued uncertainty surrounding the immediate future of the theatrical industry. Warner Bros. opted to give their entire 2021 slate a simultaneous release on the big screen and HBO Max, Paramount already sold Without Remorse and Coming 2 America off to Amazon and are in final negotiations to do the same with The Tomorrow War, while Sony have simply packed up and ran.
Morbius was delayed from March until October just last week, but Jared Leto’s superhero origin story has since been pushed back again until January 2022. Ghostbusters: Afterlife, meanwhile, is now set for November instead of June, and Tom Holland’s Uncharted will debut in February of next year.
Naturally, this has led fans to start worrying about Sony’s other two major comic book blockbusters as you can see from the reactions below, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage still hanging onto June 25th for now, while Marvel Studios co-production Spider-Man 3 hasn’t budged from December yet.
https://twitter.com/supermangeek101/status/1352495510209355777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1352495510209355777%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-delayed-spider-man-3-venom-2-carnage-release-date-fans-worried%2F
#Morbius is delayed until January so does that mean #SpiderMan3 will be delayed as well? Because that's meant to come out in December. I thought Morbius would lead into Spider-Man 3. #Marvel
— Adam Butt (@AdsButt123) January 22, 2021
I swear to God if they delay venom 2 and Spider-Man 3 I will lose my cool! #Venom #SpiderMan #Morbius #BlackWidow #Hulk #Wanda #SpiderMan3 #MCU pic.twitter.com/QYqvyqarRq
— Scotty V (@Directorscottv) January 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/PunkManiac1/status/1352583404718534656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1352583404718534656%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-delayed-spider-man-3-venom-2-carnage-release-date-fans-worried%2F
MORBIUS apparently doesn't need to be seen before VENOM 2 or SPIDER-MAN 3 (or, probably, at all). https://t.co/HDNZMn0EMr
— Bill Brasky (@BillBrasky2620) January 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/mrvldcmystery/status/1352510226096812038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1352510226096812038%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-delayed-spider-man-3-venom-2-carnage-release-date-fans-worried%2F
https://twitter.com/supermangeek101/status/1352489893335855104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1352489893335855104%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-delayed-spider-man-3-venom-2-carnage-release-date-fans-worried%2F
It certainly looks as though we’re facing another industry-wide domino effect, with No Time to Die making the widely expected move from April to October, only for a slew of major releases to follow suit. Kevin Feige still hopes that Black Widow will arrive as planned in May, but he also admitted that confidence is meaningless in the current climate, and Sony clearly feel skeptical enough to hold off on Morbius for a full eighteen months after the original July 2020 date.
Based on how things are going, it could be the end of this year until audiences have anything close to a packed calendar of movies to choose from, if they’re even willing to return to the multiplex in great numbers by then.
Published: Jan 23, 2021 10:42 am