The movie industry has still been a wounded animal since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. In a world where most films are seen in multiplexes where hundreds of people are together at a time, the ability to entertain the masses has been barred. While vaccination rates have increased we still appear to be needing a better handling of the virus before the world can return to a fraction of what is was before this occurred. With that in mind it appears Paramount Pictures has seen to move the release dates on several of their biggest projects.
Tom Cruise is holding the share of the leading roles in these held-off titles as “Top Gun: Maverick” as well as the seventh and eighth films in the “Mission: Impossible” series have been put off. “Top Gun: Maverick”, previously slated for a July 4th weekend release, is now set for November 19, 2021. The next two “Mission: Impossible” films are now set to release on May 27, 2022 and July 7th, 2023. In a personal bit of conjecture, the timing of two “Mission: Impossible” films in such a short time period of release could possibly be signaling the end of either the franchise or Cruise as its leading character, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt.
Several other notable changes include:
- “Snake Eyes”, the stand-alone title from the pair of “G.I. Joe” films, set for theaters this coming July 23, actually being moved up in the schedule from October 22.
- The newest version of a “Dungeons & Dragons” film, previously set for May 27, 2022, is now going to release on March 3, 2023.
- The untitled fourth J.J. Abrams Star Trek film will be coming out on June 9, 2023.
Seeing that Paramount made these types of drastic changes to their release schedules begs the question: Will other studios begin a similar process or will we see some become more bold as a potentially safer world starts coming clearer? We will keep you posted on these developments.