Sony Pictures has pushed back many of its major tentpoles — including “Morbius,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Uncharted” and “Peter Rabbit 2” — to next year, the studio announced on Monday.
Jason Reitman’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” has moved from July 10, 2020, to March 5, 2021; Jared Leto’s “Morbius” has been pushed back from July 31, 2020, to March 19, 2021; Tom Holland-starring video game adaptation “Uncharted” went from March 5, 2021, to Oct. 8, 2021; and “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” moved from Aug. 7, 2020, to Jan. 15, 2021. An untitled Sony/Marvel movie was also delayed from an original Oct. 8, 2021 date and is now undated.
Virtually every major Sony title was moved out of 2020, with the exception of Kevin Hart drama “Fatherhood,” which moved up to Oct. 23, 2020, from Jan. 15, 2021. Tom Hanks’ World War II drama “Greyhound,” was taken off the schedule indefinitely from its June release.
The schedule moves are the most sweeping by a major studio since the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent shuttering of most movie theaters in North America in recent weeks.
Sony’s moves also underscore that studios are not expecting theaters to be open again until mid-summer, at the earliest. Warner Bros. is postponing “Wonder Woman 1984” to Aug. 14 instead of June 5. The studio also indefinitely pulled “In the Heights” — an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical that was due out June 26 — as well as “Scoob,” an animated film based on “Scooby-Doo” characters that had been set for May 15.
Other major titles that have been taken off the schedule in recent weeks include Disney’s “Black Widow” and “Mulan,” Universal’s “Fast & Furious” entry “Fast 9,” MGM’s James Bond follow-up “No Time to Die” and Paramount’s “A Quiet Place” sequel.
