Disney Delays Avatar Sequels & The New Mutants Movies
Not again.
Walt Disney Studios has just announced a significant overhaul of their upcoming release slate, now fully updated to incorporate every movie inherited following their acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
Beyond confirming the existence of eight untitled Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and three new entries into the Star Wars franchise, Disney also announced major delays to two long-gestating projects.
First up, Avatar 2 has been pushed from its most recent December 18, 2020 date to December 17, 2021, which has had a knock-on effect with the three further sequels.
Avatar 3 will now bow on December 22, 2023 (rather than December 17, 2021), Avatar 4 on December 19, 2025 (instead of December 20, 2024) and Avatar 5 on December 17, 2027 (from December 19, 2025).
With Cameron's track record for pulling off troubled, gargantuan productions, there's probably nothing worth worrying about here, especially as the filmmaker is reportedly already deep into shooting Avatar 4 and 5.
Though the fact he'll be 73 years of age by the time the five-movie franchise is completed (assuming these dates stick) is definitely a bit shocking.
The other big delay news came from the X-Men camp, with The New Mutants getting pushed from August 2 to April 3, 2020. It's no secret that Josh Boone's superhero horror flick has been on the skids for quite some time, with principal photography being completed back in September 2017.
Fox was planning to schedule reshoots to allow Boone more time to achieve his vision, but amid rumours that the film will end up dumped on Hulu, it's been tough to take the studio at their word.
And as it pertains to this new release date, does anyone actually believe it'll end up in cinemas next April?