On the heels of the first big positive box office news in months, with “Godzilla vs. Kong” showing that maybe, just maybe, North American cinemas are rebounding in time for the summer movie season, Paramount has announced the departure of one of the biggest titles still on the schedule for July— “Top Gun: Maverick.”
READ MORE: ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Smashes The Box Office, But Are Cinemas Actually Rebounding?
According to Deadline, Paramount has decided not to press its luck with the already-delayed “Top Gun: Maverick,” seeing the return of Tom Cruise to the role of a fighter pilot, and push it out of the current July 2 spot and into the Thanksgiving timeframe on November 19. While theater owners are probably really upset with the news about ‘Maverick’ vacating the summer timeframe, it was almost to be expected with the recent news about Disney pushing “Black Widow” to July 9. That’s just too close for comfort when you’re talking about two massive franchises.
However, as Paramount taketh, the studio also giveth.
READ MORE: Cinema Owners Group Says Theaters In NYC Need To Be At 75% Capacity By July To Survive
The news of “Top Gun: Maverick” being pushed out of July is quickly followed by the announcement that Paramount is replacing it with its upcoming “GI Joe” spinoff film, “Snake Eyes,” which is moving from October 22 to July 23. While this franchise film is not nearly as big as “Top Gun 2,” at least there is hope that “Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins” will attract enough people back to the big screen and salvage what is left of the summer season.
In addition to this 2021 switcheroo, it appears that Paramount is also ready to finally schedule the highly-anticipated “Mission: Impossible 7” for May 27, 2022. As the title suggests, this is the seventh film in the franchise that is led by Tom Cruise and has lasted for two decades. With the date firmly in place for May 2022, you have to assume “Mission: Impossible 8,” which is expected to begin filming later this year, will occupy a similar date in 2023.
All told, Paramount is clearly still expecting audiences to return to theaters this summer, but the studio isn’t willing to risk the performance of a massive film franchise like ‘Top Gun’ on that wager. For cinema owners, this just adds to the uneasy feeling about where the future of the business is heading, as they try everything possible to keep the lights on and invite people back to the big screen.
In addition to these films, Paramount also unveiled new dates for other features:
- ‘Jackass 4‘ — October 22, 2021 (previously, September 3, 2021)
- Untitled Bee Gees biopic, directed by Kenneth Branagh — November 4, 2022
- “Dungeons and Dragons“ — March 3, 2023
- Untitled ‘Star Trek’ film — June 9, 2023
- “The Shrinking of Treehorn” — November 10, 2023
- Untitled Ryan Reynolds/John Krasinski film — November 17, 2023
UPDATE: In light of the news, Deadline also reports that “The Forever Purge” from Universal has decided to take over that “Top Gun: Maverick” date of July 2, moving just a week from its original July 9 date.