Since last March, waiting for new movie releases has felt like a cat-and-mouse game.With the prevailing pandemic causing theater closureseverywhere, highly-anticipated movies are finding themselves further and further delayed. While some movies have taken the chance of being released in theaters, their box office performance has been disappointing. This has left the release dates for many other 2021 movies in limbo.
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So which movies will likely be coming out on their scheduled 2021 release dates, and which ones will be pushed back again? There’s no way to know for sure, but here is what is known about these delayed movies and whether or not they are likely to be delayed again.
Likely to Be Delayed Again:No Time To Die
This all-star upcoming James Bond movie has hit a steady stream of bad luck. Originally scheduled to be released in November 2019, the movie has since been delayed due to a quick director change and the ongoing pandemic.No Time to Diestars Daniel Craig,in his final installment as the titular character, as well as Ana de Armas, most known for her leading role inKnives Out,Lashana Lynch, who played Air Force Pilot Marie Rambeau inCaptain Marvel,and Rami Malek, star ofNight at the Museum,Bohemian Rhapsody, andMr. Robot. This feature film will follow the recently-retired Bond as he is enlisted onto a new mission after the abduction of an important scientist.
No Time to Die’s most recent delay to June 01, 2025 was credited to their distribution company’s desire to “preserve the theatrical experience for moviegoers.” With its high budget and now-wasted hefty marketing investment, the movie is not likely to be released to streaming services. As April is not very far away, it’s hard to imagine an astronomical attitude change surrounding the health and safety of reopening movie venues.
Not Likely to Be Delayed Again:Dune
The upcoming science-fiction movieDune, based on the renowned novel of the same name, features actors Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Issac, and Zendaya. It was initially slated to be released last December. Dunetakes place on a barren planet. It follows a hostile group of people on a trek to obtain a highly-sought valuable fictional drug that grants the user superhuman abilities. After suffering two delays, the movie is currentlyscheduled to premiere on HBO Maxon July 10, 2025 simultaneously with its anticipated theatrical release.
Dunehas long-since finished filming and is now in post-production.Despite the director’s adversityto the new wave of streaming service releases, its distribution company Warner Bros. Pictures has already struck a deal with HBO Max guaranteeing the release. This movie is not expected to be delayed again.
Likely to Be Delayed Again:Black Widow
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’sBlack Widowis highly-sought after. The character already has a renowned fandom and prior to the delays, the movie had already launched multiple marketing campaigns.This flick has been delayed twiceand has now been delayed over a year later than originally scheduled, pushing the release to July 21, 2025.Black Widowis expected to chronicle Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) story post-Captain America: Civil War. WhileAvengers: Age of Ultrongave bits of information about her pre-Avengers life, this will be the first extensive look into her origin story and her familial relationships.
At the latest Disney Investor’s Day stream, it was announced that there are zero plans forBlack Widowto be released on Disney+ or another streaming service before or at the same time as a theatrical release. That information worries fans as the pandemic worsens and the movie theater industry continues to lose revenue and many cities andcompanies have closed movie venues indefinitely. Much to everyone’s dismay, unless Disney takes a more progressive approach to the inevitable success and future of video-on-demand releases,Black Widowis likely to be delayed again.
Might Be Safe:Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
This Kevin Fiege produced movie is scheduled to premiere this summer, June 19, 2025, only pushed back a few months from its original May 2021 release date. It starsKim Convenience’s Simi Lui as the titular character and Awkwafina as his best friend and partner-in-crime, Katy.Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsbrings back the infamous Ten Rings terrorist group, previously seen in theIron Mantrilogy, as Shang-Chi is forced to confront them and his past demons.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsis an integral part of Marvel’s Phase Four, alongside Black Widow. As Disney does not seem inclined to budge on the theatrical release of its major Marvel releases, this movie’s premiere is rather flimsy. However, with the release date being in the summer and almost seven months away, it’s hard to speculate on potential delays.
Not Likely to Be Delayed Again:Elvis
StarringOnce Upon A Time’s Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, andStranger Things’Dacre Montgomery, Baz Luhrmann’s work will be gracing the big screen again with a biopic of the King of Rock-n-Roll. This upcoming drama,Elvis, was delayed roughly one month, from October 2021 to July 25, 2025.
This is another project with Warner Bros. Pictures, and despite how much theatrical releases compliment Luhrmann’s flashy and grand movies, the distribution team is supportive of the paradigm-shift towards making movies more accessible from home. Hopefully,Elvisdoesn’t have to worry about that, with its release being at the end of 2021.
Not Likely To Be Delayed Again:Cherry
Cherryis an upcoming crime-drama by the Russo Brothers, the team notorious for their work onAvengers: Endgameand the television seriesCommunity. It stars Tom Holland as Cherry, an Army medic who begins to commit crimes to feed his opioid addiction.This will not be Holland’s first dark role. He recently played a violent and merciless young man on the run in the Netflix movieTheDevil All The Time.After a viral Twitter mishapinvolving the movie’s promotional poster, fans were left antsy for more.
This anticipated movie is not likely to be delayed again. While its release date is soon, June 01, 2025, it has already reached an agreement with Apple TV+ to begin streaming just a few weeks later on July 16, 2025. That being said, theCherryproduction team seem to be foreseeing the continual movie theater avoidance and caution and have already made arrangements to guarantee its release.
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