Disney fans will still have to wait. The studio announced on Thursday that the big-budget movie "Mulan", as well as future shutters of the "Star Wars" and "Avatar" sagas will be shifted, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The release of the live-action version of the famous cartoon "Mulan" has already been postponed twice, the last time to August 21. This time, a date has not been specified by Disney.
A difficult summer for theater operators
It's another big blow for movie theater operators. After the postponement of Christopher Nolan's film “Tenet”, another planned big poster, which was eventually canceled, the Disney film was their second mainstay of the summer season.
“In recent months it has become clear that nothing can be set in stone about how we release movies,” said a spokesperson for the Disney studio.
"Today that means we are putting our 'Mulan' release plans on hold to determine how we can most effectively present this film to viewers around the world," the spokesperson added.
Thursday, the French comedian Kheiron told him that his long-awaited comedy “Brutus vs Cesar” would only be released on Amazon Prime Video.
Staggered outputs
But the shock wave goes way beyond the summer. Thus, Disney also announced that the second part of "Avatar" will be released in December 2022 and the tenth episode of "Star Wars" in December 2023, rather than in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The releases will then be staggered every two years for the two films.
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In a message posted to his Twitter account, "Avatar" director, screenwriter and co-producer James Cameron explained that the delay was due to delays in the production schedule.
Oel ngati kameie, Avatar fans. https://t.co/LfYUOGIFyS
- James Cameron (@JimCameron) July 23, 2020If production has started well in New Zealand for live shots, the special effects work, planned in Los Angeles, has still not started, because of the Covid-19.
At the beginning of April, Disney had already decided to postpone the release of a dozen Marvel films and other big productions including "Black Widow" currently scheduled for November 6, with Scarlett Johansson in the lead role. This postponement automatically shifts the other films of the series to come.
Disney has also postponed, to an unspecified date, the new film by American director Wes Anderson, "The French Dispatch", which was previously scheduled for release on October 16.
Selected at Cannes, this feature film is produced by the Searchlight studio, which has become a subsidiary of Disney since the entertainment giant took over the majority of the assets of the 21th Century Fox group in 2019.