Editorial Staff
Disney has opted to push quite a few of their films back a few calendar spots due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Most notably, James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel will now open December 16, 2022. Four further sequels to the New Zealand-lensed blockbuster will release each December thereafter.
“Avatar 2”, starring Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, was originally due to open in 2014.
Disney has also delayed plans for a new “Star Wars” trilogy. The first of three films will launch on Dec. 22, 2023, and two follow-ups will hit theaters Dec. 19, 2025, and Dec. 17, 2027.
The studio has also delayed “The Personal History of David Copperfield, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel from its Searchlight banner, back by a mere two weeks to Aug. 28, 2020. Another Searchlight title, Wes Anderson’s comedic drama “The French Dispatch,” has also been removed from Disney’s release calendar, while producer Guillermo del Toro’s horror film “Antlers” has been postponed until Feb. 19, 2021.
Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel,” a historical epic starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, was originally scheduled for limited release on Christmas 2020 and will instead open nationwide on Oct. 15, 2021.
Disney hasn’t entirely moved films out of 2020. Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery “Death on the Nile” has been shifted back two weeks to Oct. 23, 2020. Later in the year, supernatural horror film “The Empty Man” will release on Dec. 4, 2020.
