On top of all the Star Wars, Avatar and X-Men release date changes just announced, the Walt Disney Company has also dropped several new Fox and Disney release date announcements and shuffles. Arguably the biggest is for director Steven Spielberg’s musical remake of West Side Story, which is now set to open on December 18, 2020 where it currently has no direct competition.
On the Fox front the comedy/drama The Art of Racing in the Rain starring Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Costner and directed by Simon Curtis moved from 9/27/19 to 8/9/19. The Fox Searchlight horror thriller Ready or Not is now dated on 8/23/19. The Brad Pitt-led science fiction film Ad Astra from director James Gray moves from 5/24/19 to 9/20/19. Director James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon has been dated for 11/15/19. The animated adventure Spies in Disguise featuring the voice of Will Smith has moved from 9/13/19 to 12/25/19. The troubled action adventure Underwater (which has sat on the shelf since 2017) starring Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick and T.J. Miller will get dumped on 1/10/20. The live-action adaptation of Jack London’s Call of the Wild starring Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens and Karen Gillan moves from 12/25/19 to the less competitive 2/21/20. Blue Sky Studios’ animated adaptation of the graphic novel Nimona moves from 2/14/20 to 3/5/21, but their other animated film in production Foster (originally dated for 3/5/21) has been removed from schedule entirely, with the plug having possibly been pulled on the project. Finally, Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, the sequel to his successful Murder on the Orient Express, has moved back one week from 10/2/20 to 10/9/20.
On the Disney front the live-action 101 Dalmations riff Cruella starring Emma Stone has been dated for 12/23/20 (only five days after West Side Story). Kenneth Branagh’s YA film Artemis Fowl has vacated its summer release date of 8/9/19 and moved back nine months to 5/29/20, the following summer. The live-action gorilla/elephant family movie The One and Only Ivan has been pushed back from 2/14/20 to 8/14/20. Finally, an Untitled Live Action Disney film previously slated for 12/22/21 has been removed from the schedule entirely.
What do you think of all these release date changes? Which film are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments below!