WASHINGTON — When 2020 started, the year was shaping up to be a big one for movies. But like most things, the coronavirus pandemic threw a massive wrench into those plans.
With theaters shut down for months, studios were forced to remake carefully laid out plans and shuffled the release dates for some of the year’s most anticipated films.
Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” tried to lead the way back to “normal” with a pretty typical theatrical release in September, but most larger releases have been postponed or detoured to digital, sometimes while still playing in theaters overseas.
With moviegoers hesitant to return to theaters so far, studios are banking on that attitude changing before a slew of 2020 movies premiere on the new 2021 dates.
But at least one studio seems to be acknowledging any full rebound for cinemas is still a year or more away. Warner Bros. Pictures recently announced all its 2021 film slate will stream on HBO Max at the same time the films play in theaters. Whether other Hollywood studios plan to follow their lead remains to be seen.
Here are some of the biggest films that got bumped from 2020 to 2021.
"The King's Man"
Original Release Date: September 18, 2020
New Release Date: February 12, 2021
Ralph Fiennes stars in a prequel to the hugely successful "Kingsman" series. Set a century before the original franchise begins, the spy film gives fans a taste of how a group of soldiers came to form the group known as the Kingsmen.
A third installment to the "Kingsman" franchise is also in the works, as well as a spin-off series about the American equivalent of the group of spies, the "Statesmen."
"Morbius"
Original Release Date: July 31, 2020
New Release Date: March 19, 2021
After the success of 2018's "Venom," Sony announced plans for more films based on characters connected to Spider-man. The first of those films, "Morbius" is set to premiere in early 2021 but could get pushed back again depending on the COVID-19 situation.
Jared Leto is tapped to play the titular blood-sucking antihero. There's been no word on the official plot of the film so far, but according to comic book canon, Morbius was a biochemist who acquires powerful abilities and a hunger for blood after efforts to cure his blood disorder go awry. The character has been both ally and foe to Spider-Man.
“No Time to Die”
Original Release Date: April 8, 2020
New Release Date: April 2, 2021
James Bond's retirement has been cut short and he's thrust back into action in the next Bond outing, "No Time to Die."
After leaving active service, Bond's "peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help." Leiter's appearance leads Bond onto a mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist.
The film features the exciting addition of Lashana Lynch, who is widely reported to take over the 007 secret agent code since Bond is "retired" when the film begins. The first trailer for the film confirmed Lynch's character is a 00 agent, but it doesn't specify which one.
“No time to Die” is expected to be Daniel Craig’s last James Bond film, before the next actor takes over the role of the iconic character.
"A Quiet Place Part 2"
Original Release Date: March 20, 2020
New Release Date: April 23, 2021
John Krasinski returns to direct and Emily Blunt, who is married to Krasinski, stars in the second installment of the hit horror film. After the deadly events of the first film, the Abbott family must now face the outside world as they continue to fight for their survival. The film also teases new foes aside from the monsters seen in the first film.
Although this sequel was delayed to 2021, Krasinski kept busy when the coronavirus lockdowns hit by launching a feel-good weekly web series called “Some Good News.” While there were just eight episodes, the show featured a prom, a graduation, a “Hamilton” performance and even an “Office” reunion for a Zoom wedding.
“Black Widow”
Original Release Date: April 8, 2020
New Release Date: May 7, 2021
Scarlett Johansson is finally starring in her own standalone Marvel film…even if it’s coming out a year later than planned. "Black Widow" is not a sequel or a prequel, but a filler. Marvel execs said last summer that the story takes place sometime in the two years while she is in exile between 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" and 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," according to Digital Spy.
The trailers released so far have featured Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, a former foe turned ally of Natasha Romanoff. In the comics, Belova became the second Black Widow. The film is rumored to serve as a way of setting up Belova to join the Avengers in future movies following Johansson's exit from the franchise.
"Godzilla v. Kong"
Original Release Date: November 20, 2020
New Release Date: May 21, 2021
The climactic film in Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse series is coming in May 2021. The film follows this year's "Godzilla: King of Monsters," where Godzilla defeats Ghidora, becoming Alpha of all Titans on Earth.
Footage shown at Brazil's Comic-Con shows that King Kong is now the same size as Godzilla, so fans are sure to see an epic battle between the two monsters.
“F9”
Original Release Date: May 20, 2020
New Release Date: May 28, 2021
The ninth “Fast & Furious” movie was all set to rev up the Summer 2020 box office when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Instead, the film was parked for a year. This time around the crew will face off against Dominic Toretto’s brother, played by former WWE superstar John Cena. Based on the film’s official trailer, which came in at nearly 4-minutes long, “F9” is guaranteed to be just as wild as the franchise’s first eight films.
“In the Heights”
Original Release Date: June 26, 2020
New Release Date: June 18, 2021
Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony award-winning musical “In the Heights” is getting a film adaptation.
The story of "In the Heights" is about "a block that was disappearing," star Anthony Ramos explains to a group of children in the movie's trailer. "A barrio called Washington Heights, the streets they were made of music."
The movie is directed by John Chu, who also directed "Crazy Rich Asians." He describes the musical as "a beautiful story about change," according to VARIETY.
When the decision was made to push the movie to 2021, Chu tweeted that the film “didn’t take 10 years to get made only to be left in half-empty theaters w/o the crowd it deserves.”
The original musical was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and was a precursor to Miranda's mega-hit "Hamilton" musical.
Originally, a filmed-version of “Hamilton” was set to be released in October 2021 but Disney decided to release it early on Disney Plus to give fans a bit of a bright spot in 2020.
"Top Gun: Maverick"
Original Release Date: June 26, 2020
New Release Date: July 2, 2021
After more than three decades (and a pandemic delay), a "Top Gun" sequel is finally taking off! Tom Cruise is returning as the film's lead, Peter "Maverick" Mitchell. Not much else is known about the plot of the film, but the production boasts some talented young actors, including Miles Teller as Goose's son.
"Jungle Cruise”
Original Release Date: July 24, 2020
New Release Date: July 30, 2021
Disney is setting sail with its latest film based on a classic Disney ride. “Jungle Cruise” features Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson taking on the riverboat captain duties. He's enlisted by Emily Blunt's character, Lily Houghton, to get her and her brother passage up the river to find a tree in the Amazon that possesses healing powers.
"Dune"
Original Release Date: December 18, 2020
New Release Date: October 1, 2021
The ambitious remake of Frank Herbert's 1965 science-fiction novel of the same name is sure to make waves when it hits theaters and HBO Max in Fall 2021. The sprawling novel is considered extremely difficult to adapt. David Lynch brought it to the big screen in 1984, but many fans felt it fell short.
The new film will star Oscar Isaac, Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson. Isaac praised the latest adaptation in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, calling it a "wholly, wholly different thing" from previous adaptations.
"Halloween Kills"
Original Release Date: October 16, 2020
New Release Date: October 15, 2021
Blumhouse Productions is coming back with two more films in the "Halloween" franchise following the 2018 film's massive success.
Jamie Lee Curtis is set to return as Laurie Strode, along with many more characters from the original 1978 "Halloween" film. Actor Robert Longstreet, who plays Lonnie Elam, said the second film in the new trilogy "might be the nastiest of all of them."
Marvel's "Eternals"
Original Release Date: November 6, 2020
New Release Date: November 5, 2021
"Eternals" was supposed to be the second film in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the one-year delay has bumped it behind “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
The film follows powerful immortal beings called "Eternals," who have shaped much of Earth's history. The cast is stacked with big names, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden and Kit Harington.
"West Side Story"
Original Release Date: December 18, 2020
New Release Date: December 10, 2021
Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler star in the remake of the iconic stage musical and 1961 film. The two play teenage star-crossed lovers from rival gangs in 1950s New York.
Director Steven Spielberg paid tribute to the original creators of the musical when production wrapped in September 2019.
“On every day of the past four years during which we’ve been preparing, casting, imagining West Side Story, I and my team, cast and crew have been walking in the footsteps of four giants: Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim," Spielberg wrote in a letter. "For the light they’ve shed on the world, for Stephen Sondheim’s insight, guidance and support, and for the openhearted support of the Bernstein, Laurents and Robbins estates, I owe more than I can possibly express.”