LOS ANGELES • Walt Disney has postponed the release of Black Widow, the highly anticipated Marvel movie starring Scarlett Johansson, for another six months, in the latest setback for film studios and theatres.
The movie, originally scheduled to hit theatres in the United States on May 1, had already been delayed until Nov 6. It is now set to debut on May 7 next year, Disney said on Wednesday.
West Side Story, director Steven Spielberg's take on the classic Broadway musical, was also pushed back an entire year, to Dec 10 next year.
Though most theatres in the US are open, studios still face a daunting path to profitability for their high-profile pictures.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the largest movie markets in the country, Los Angeles and New York City, are still closed. Sales at open venues have been capped to meet social distancing requirements. A theatre trade group also said last week that many consumers still think their local cinema is closed.
The delay prolongs the pain for theatre chains, which need major pictures to draw fans back. Just one big-budget film has opened in recent months: Warner Bros' Tenet.
The US$200 million (S$275 million) film has generated a little more than US$36 million in domestic ticket sales in four weeks of release, indicating that the public is reluctant to go out and marking one of the weakest showings for director Christopher Nolan. His last movie, Dunkirk, sold almost US$200 million in tickets domestically in 2017.
Against that backdrop, the rescheduling of Black Widow was widely anticipated in Hollywood.
Disney's move means there will be no new major Hollywood films in cinemas until Nov 20, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's James Bond movie No Time To Die is scheduled to debut.
AT&T-owned Warner Bros still plans to release two major films in December: sci-fi story Dune and DC Comics' Wonder Woman 1984, though it is possible those dates could slip because of the virus.
Disney also announced rescheduling plans for other movies, including moving Agatha Christie mystery Death On The Nile to Dec 18 this year from Oct 23, and Marvel's Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings to July 9 next year from May 7.
It still plans to release Soul, the latest animated film from Pixar, on Nov 20 as scheduled. That could allow the company to release the movie early next year on Disney+.
The studio also kept Nomadland on the calendar for Dec 4. The drama, which stars Frances McDormand, has captured festival prizes and is a top Oscar contender.
BLOOMBERG
