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Disney Has Delayed Indiana Jones And A Whole Bunch Of Marvel Movies

"As Disney/Marvel’s Eternals is being aggressively buzzed to possibly open at $100M, and their co-production with Sony, Spider-Man: No Way Home even more, the Burbank, CA has just shifted their entire Marvel movie theatrical schedule for 2022 and beyond.

Exhibition, no need to be alarmed: This has nothing to do with a change in distribution strategy for these films, I’m informed. There’s no Disney+ theatrical day-and-date going on, nor are the Disney execs immediately concerned about the future of the global marketplace. It’s all on account of a domino effect that is going on with production and filmmakers. Some titles are contending with finishing scenarios while others are in production. This is how Disney is solving it, and when you come to think of it, most of the dates were already reserved by the studio for Marvel fare; they’re just moving one title from one slot to the next. Even better, the new Indiana Jones movie which was sitting on the same release date as Warner Bros./DC’s Black Adam next year, on July 29, 2022; that sequel starring Chris Pratt now moves to June 30, 2023; Independence Day, weekend where Universal already has an untitled Illumination movie."

Here are the big hitters: 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: March 25th, 2022 -> May 6th, 2022

Thor: Love & Thunder: May 6th, 2022 -> July 8th, 2022

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: July 8th, 2022 ->November 11th, 2022

Indiana Jones 5: July 29th, 2022 -> June 30th, 2023

The Marvels: November 11th, 2022 -> February 17th 2023

Ant Man 3: Quantumania: February 17th, 2023 -> July 28th, 2023

UNTITLED Marvel movie(Maybe Blade?): November 10th, 2023 -> Nov 3rd, 2023

Like the article said, this isn't like the COVID delays where they were nervous about attendance. Just rearranging to maximize the only thing that the Mouse cares about: PROFIT. The most interesting delay to me is Indy 5, which got pushed back a whole ass year. Harrison Ford is a billion years old, and only took this role because it probably pays juuuuuuust enough for him to buy a new Cessna to crash. He injured his shoulder while filming a few months ago which may have something to do with this delay, or maybe it's just that you cant maintain a steady production schedule in general with a star of that age. I don't know what the story is, but I'm still sneaky excited for that movie. 

I'll reiterate what I noted when James Mangold first signed on to make this sequel: Besides directing some great movies in '3:10 to Yuma' and 'Ford v Ferrari', he made what was easily one of the best comic book movies ever made in 'Logan'. Something important that he did with 'Logan' was wrap up a beloved (and aged) action characters story in an incredibly satisfying fashion. THAT is why you should be excited for this. Mangold knows the reverence we have for the character of Indiana Jones and he knows how to close the book on a character in a way that will give us all a sense of closure.

For those of you that read the title of the blog and clicked on it just to rush to the comment section and say "Comic book movies are for pussies" or "All these movies are the same, why don't they make original movies any more!", here is a word of advice: GO WATCH MOVIES. Look at this weekend's box office:

#1. Sequel

#2. Sequel

#3. Comic book movie sequel

#4. Sequel

#5. An original movie from Ridley Scott about tje insane story around the final judicial duel in medieval France starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jodie Comer. It has had plenty of promotion, it's not a simultaneous release on streaming and it is in over 3,000 theaters. And it is BOMBING. 

If you want studios to finance and distribute original properties, speak with your wallet. Don't go to the comic book movies, go to original movies instead. Literally the only way you get a studio(or any company really) to do anything as a consumer is to fuck with their money.