The Walt Disney Studios has made some major changes to their theatrical release calendar as the coronavirus pandemic keeps most theaters closed around the country. The live-action version of Mulan, which was their next release, is no longer on the calendar, while the sequels to Avatar and several upcoming Star Wars film have been delayed a year.
Mulan was originally scheduled to debut in March, but was rescheduled to July, then again to August 21st. Disney has not yet indicated their intent for the film, but did release this statement:
Over the last few months, it’s become clear that nothing can be set in stone with it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world.
Avatar 2, which had been scheduled for December 2021 will now hit theaters in December 2022, with a new Star Wars film set for December 2023. The franchises are set to alternate December releases for several years.
Director James Cameron issued a message to fans on the official Avatar Instagram feed:
The updatst for Disney and Fox film look something like this:
- August 28, 2020 – The Personal History of David Copperfield
- October 23, 2020 – Death on the Nile
- December 4, 2020 – The Empty Man
- February 19, 2021 – Antlers
- October 15, 2021 – The Last Duel
- December 17, 2021 – Untitled Disney live-action film
- December 16, 2022 – Avatar 2
- December 22, 2023 – Untitled Star Wars film
- December 20, 2024 – Avatar 3
- December 19, 2025 – Untitled Star Wars film
- December 18, 2026 – Avatar 4
- December 17, 2027 – Untitled Star Wars film
- December 22, 2028 – Avatar 5
- No Date – Mulan
- No Date – The French Dispatch
There was no mention of changes for The New Mutants (August 28, 2020), Black Widow (November 6, 2020), or West Side Story (December 18, 2020).
Source: The Hollywood Reporter / Variety