‘Black Widow,’ ‘Eternals,’ ‘Indiana Jones 5’ and More Disney Films Get New Release Dates

From “Black Widow” and “The Eternals” to “Indiana Jones 5,” Disney has overhauled the release calendar for most of its upcoming films as movie theaters remain closed for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Black Widow” — which was delayed last month — will now open Nov. 6, 2020, taking the place of fellow Marvel adventure “The Eternals.” That shift pushed back most impending installments in Marvel Cinematic Universe, which will now launch as follows: “The Eternals” on Feb. 12, 2021, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” on May 7, 2021, “Doctor Strange 2” on Nov. 5, 2021 and “Thor: Love and Thunder” on Feb. 18, 2022. “Black Panther 2” will still debut May 6, 2022, while “Captain Marvel 2” has been set for July 8, 2022.

The studio’s live-action remake of “Mulan” has been pushed to July 24, 2020, opening on the date previously occupied by “Jungle Cruise.” However, there is no guarantee that theaters will even be reopened by then, and sources at Disney note that release dates could continue to move given the uncertainty over the global health crisis.

“Jungle Cruise,” a family film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, will bow July 20, 2021, roughly a year after expected. Down the road, Harrison Ford’s “Indiana Jones 5,” initially launching in summer of 2021, has moved to July 29, 2022.

Sci-fi fantasy film “Artemis Fowl,” which supposed to open May 29, will instead debut on Disney Plus, making it the studio’s first film to entirely skip its theatrical release.

For now, Disney is keeping release dates for Pixar’s “Soul” (June 19), “West Side Story” (Dec. 18) and “The Last Duel” (Dec. 25).

Other shakeups to Disney’s release calendar include Ryan Reynolds’ “Free Guy,” an action comedy from its 20th Century banner, which has moved from Aug. 3, 2020 to Dec. 11, 2020. Elsewhere, Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” from Searchlight, shifted from Aug. 24, 2020 to Oct. 16, 2020.

As previously announced, “The New Mutants,” “Woman in the Window,” “Antlers” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield” remain without release dates.

By now, every studio has postponed at least part of its summer movie slate — a mounting list that includes Sony’s “Morbius” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984” and “In the Heights,” Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and Universal’s “F9.”

The latest scheduling shift from Disney is yet another sign that the earliest movie theaters might reopen would be late into summer. When cinemas do reopen, there’s no telling how eager audiences will be to return.

It’s not just the closure of multiplexes that is impacting Hollywood studios. The coronavirus pandemic has shut down production on numerous films, including “Doctor Strange” and “Shang-Chi,” leaving companies uncertain when cameras will be able to roll again.

Post-production has also been affected since employees have been forced to work remotely to help with social distancing. Consequentially, those films might not have been done in time to make their previously scheduled release dates.