Anna Daniels
Disney announced wide, sweeping release date changes amid the industry-wide shutterings made out of abundance of caution for ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In an unprecedented move, Disney has pulled Artemis Fowl, from theaters entirely for an exclusive Disney+ debut. Artemis Fowl is the only theatrical release from Disney thus far to entirely forego theaters and go straight to streaming.
The entire Disney summer movie slate has been pushed back, with Mulan, which was originally set to hit theaters in March, set to kick the season off in late July. This has pushed back other films down the line, including Searchlight and 20th Century Studios films like The French Dispatch, Free Guy, and the untitled fifth Indiana Jones movie.
Disney announced Friday that Artemis Fowl is being pulled from theatrical release for a Disney+ debut at a to-be-determined release date. The fantasy adventure film, based on the beloved children’s book by Eoin Colfer, was originally set to hit theaters on May 29.
“With audiences largely unable to attend theatres in the current environment, we are thrilled to offer the premiere of ‘Artemis Fowl’ on Disney+,” said Ricky Strauss, President, Content & Marketing, Disney+.
With fans grousing over the many changes the film had apparently made to the beloved book, including to the protagonist played by newcomer Ferdia Shaw, and a lackluster response to marketing and trailers, it seemed inevitable that Artemis Fowl would be the first theatrical release to make the leap to Disney+. The frequently-delayed film was already predicted to be a potential box office bomb, coronavirus or not, and this way Disney can avoid that potential disappointment.
But Disney could potentially be disappointed by its optimistic new release date for Mulan, originally scheduled for a March release, now set for July 24. This pushes Dwayne Johnson’s Jungle Cruise off that date and back a full year to July 30, 2021, The Wrap reports. The domino effect of this reshuffling affects 20th Century Studios releases like the Ryan Reynolds action comedy Free Guy, which moves from July 3 to December 11, and Searchlight Pictures’ The French Dispatch, with the Wes Anderson drama moving from July 24 to October 16. The next Indiana Jones movie makes a whopping one-year leap, from 2021 to July 29, 2022.
Current December releases West Side Story and The Last Duel remain unchanged, but smaller releases like The Personal History of David Copperfield, Antlers,Woman in the Window, and the long-delayed The New Mutants remain without release dates.
Here are the new Disney release dates:
- Indiana Jones: July 29, 2022
- Jungle Cruise: July 30, 2021
- Free Guy: December 11, 2020
- The French Dispatch: October 16, 2020
- Mulan: July 24, 2020
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