Films delayed as Hollywood plots course through pandemic
Hollywood’s hopes for salvaging its summer season have effectively ended after the releases of both Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and the Walt Disney Co’s live-action reboot of
Mulan were again delayed.
With reported cases of the coronavirus surging in parts of the US, Disney followed Warner Bros in pushing Mulan to late August. The film, initially planned to open in March, had been slated for July 24. It’s now moving to August 21.
“While the pandemic has changed our release plans for Mulan and we will continue to be flexible as conditions require, it has not changed our belief in the power of this film and its message of hope and perseverance,” said Disney cochairmen Alan Horn and Alan Bergman in a joint statement. Warner Bros has also postponed
Tenet, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, from July 31 to August 12. The studio stressed the need for flexibility.
“We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy,” a Warner Bros spokesperson said nt.
Movie theatre chains had planned the widespread reopening of cinemas partially around the return of new releases like Tenet and Disney’s
Mulan. AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark — the three largest circuits in North America — had all set a timetable for nationwide reopening in early to mid-July with the aim of first playing catalog movies (including Nolan’s own Inception) and a smattering of smaller films as a leadin to summer tentpoles.
But with Covid-19 cases surging in Texas, Arizona, Florida and elsewhere, those plans became uncertain. Rising cases in California have forced Disney to delay next month’s planned reopening of Disneyland in Anaheim.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said New York would delay reopening cinemas while it continues to research the safety of indoor, air-conditioned venues.