Disney has delayed Mulan For the second time this year, it will move the film from July 24 to August 21. The move follows Warner Bros. decision to delay Christopher Nolan Beginning for the second time from July 31 to August 12.
Disney doesn’t want to be the first studio to release a major movie in the midst of a pandemic when the company isn’t sure how many people will show up. Adding to the delay is confirmation that Disney and Warner Bros. are involved in a chicken toss game. Neither studio wants to go first, testing their potential billion-dollar movies in a market where movies could lose money if the public doesn’t show up or restrictions mean the public can’t see those movies.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek, quoted above Beginning (referring to it as a “competition movie”) as the movie that Disney executives planned to see; the suggestion was that if Beginning It works well, Mulan could run the following week, but if it failed on the opening weekend, Disney might move Mulan. ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish added in his company’s earnings call that he was hopeful at the time The spongebob Movies Sponge on the Run It was scheduled to open in early August, movie theaters would be in full swing. ViacomCBS has moved since The spongebob Movies Sponge on the Run to a digital launch only in 2021.
While studios are trying to figure out when to release their 2020 box office hits, theaters are also watching closely. Companies like AMC Theaters and Regal trust movies like Beginning and Mulan bring people to theaters. The plans to open more widely seemed to be based on BeginningIt is then the release date of July 31. Now Warner Bros. is relaunching Start in that place to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film. If studios don’t release new movies, theaters have nothing to attract audiences.
As concerns about the new coronavirus continue to grow as states begin to reopen, whether summer blockbusters will really start hitting theaters is still up in the air. For now, it seems the studios are playing it safe, continuing incremental delays until the time is right.
