‘Top Gun: Maverick’ flies to 2022 due to coronavirus

NEW YORK >> Paramount Pictures has postponed the release of “Top Gun: Maverick,” sending another of the fall’s top movies out of 2021 due to the rise in coronavirus cases and the delta variant.

Instead of opening Nov. 19, the “Top Gun” sequel, starring Tom Cruise, will instead debut Memorial Day weekend next year, on May 27.

Additionally, “Mission: Impossible 7” will be delayed from May 27 to Sept. 30 next year.

The postponement is the latest setback for Hollywood’s once-hopeful fall movie season. The delta-driven surge has upended the industry’s plans for some return to normality at multiplexes. The flight of “Top Gun: Maverick” follows a similar delay for Paramount’s “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” Paramount also pushed “Jackass Forever” from Oct. 22 to Feb. 4.