Disney has left us a lot to unpack here so I’ll try to break it all down without missing a beat. The good news is that some films that were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic have new dates for this year but the bad news is we’ll have to wait a bit for a couple of other releases that were planned for this year as well.
Let’s start with Black Widow & Mulan. Black Widow was originally to open on May 1 & now the Scarlett Johansson Marvel prequel will move to November 6, the original release date for Marvel’s Eternals. This move sets off an MCU chain reaction of changes with Eternals moving to Feb. 12, 2021 (Shang-Chi’s old date); Shang-Chi moves to May 7, 2021 (Doctor Strange 2’s old date); Doctor Strange 2 moves to Nov. 5, 2021 (Thor: Love and Thunder’s old date), Thor: Love And Thunder moves to Feb. 18, 2022, which was a spot for an untitled Marvel pic. Black Panther 2 remains on May 8, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 is now set for July 8, 2022, which Disney already RSVPed for an untitled live-action film. All things considered, these moves were a bit seamless.
Mulan, which was set to open in March, now opens on July 24 which is promising because it seems Disney believes movie theaters will be up & ready to go by then. Because of this move, Disney’s Jungle Cruise goes from July 24 to July 31 of 2021.
The other big move? Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl, originally intended for Memorial Day weekend, will now debut on Disney+. As far as I can see, the film will still debut over that same weekend but on streaming. So far Pixar’s Soul has not made moves from its release date of June 19. I assume it’s staying since Disney likely would’ve made an announcement today so as of now, Soul is the first major release of the summer as others have shifted dates.
