In a move that won’t surprise anyone at this point, seeing as there are no cinemas to go to, Paramount –who are seemingly selling off everything in sight— has announced that it will be pushing back “A Quiet Place 2” and “Top Gun: Maverick” even further. Starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, “A Quiet Place Part 2,” was one of the first major films to be pulled from release as cases of coronavirus began to spread in the U.S. The horror sequel will now release in theaters on April 23, 2021, instead of its original delayed date of Sept. 6, 2020. “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to the Tom Cruise 1986 classic about volleyball (and flying jets, apparently) will now be playing on July 2, 2021, roughly six months back from its original date of Dec. 23, 2020.
READ MORE: AMC Theatres Delays Reopening Again In Light Of ‘Tenet’ Move
The studio has also moved “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” to April 8, 2022, a new “Jackass” film to Sept. 3, 2021, “Under the Boardwalk” to July 22, 2022, and “The Tiger’s Apprentice” to Feb. 10, 2023. On the heels of announcements from Disney and Warner Brothers of huge shifts in their release calendars, this latest round of delays doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in plans for cinemas to reopen. AMC Theatres made delays of their own on Thursday as they push back plans to reopen to the end of August, now that all of the flagship titles for the grand reopening of U.S. cinemas (read: “Tenet” and “Mulan”), have now been put on ice.
According to Variety, there are other factors in the delays of these two particular films, with claims that Paramount wanted to spare “A Quiet Place Part 2” the pressure of being the first major theatrical release during the pandemic (“what is the weakness”, indeed). The same piece also claims that scheduling conflicts partially drove the “Top Gun: Maverick” delay, as Tom Cruise is simultaneously risking death on the production of the next installments of the “Mission Impossible” franchise. In any case, it won’t be taking off any time soon.
READ MORE: WB Delays ‘Tenet’ Indefinitely & Says Film Won’t Have A “Traditional” Release
With almost every major tentpole film of 2020 now pushed back to the following year, it’s hard to say if cinemas will reopen properly at all, considering how dependent chains have been on these titles to draw audiences back to cinemas. It still remains to be seen if AMC and its like will stick to their plan of reopening before the end of August, but it won’t be long before that much is clear.