Summer 2020 movies: Here are the new release dates

Summer 2020 Movies
Photo: Clay Enos/Warner Bros.; ©Marvel Studios 2020; Paramount Pictures

Superheroes are in quarantine, James Bond is self-isolating, and Maverick has been grounded. But let’s look at the bright side: There are about 40 postponed movies on Hollywood servers just waiting to be let loose as soon as All This is over (well, if not over, at least improved). Here are some of the most anticipated post-Memorial Day summer films that have changed dates.

BLACK WIDOW

MAY 1, 2020 → NOV. 6, 2020

It’s been a long wait for Natasha Romanoff’s first stand-alone movie (Scarlett Johansson’s character was first introduced in 2010’s Iron Man 2), and fans will have to wait even longer. Delaying Black Widow also had the domino effect of pushing back other Marvel titles, such as The Eternals (now coming Feb. 12, 2021).

F9

MAY 22, 2020 → APRIL 2, 2021

The latest Fast & Furious sequel isn’t in a hurry, with Universal delaying the Justin Lin-directed film 11 months. Vin Diesel is back as Dominic Toretto along with his band of lovable outlaws (sans Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, who have earned their own spin-off franchise with Hobbs & Shaw).

WONDER WOMAN 1984

JUNE 5, 2020 → AUG. 14, 2020 → OCT. 2, 2020

A double jumper! Gal Gadot (Diana Prince) and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) return in director Patty Jenkins’ sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman. The film was one of the first to be pushed back due to the pandemic, and recently was pushed a second time. Wonder Woman 1984 will have to satiate DC fans for a year before the release of The Suicide Squad (Aug. 6, 2021), The Batman (Oct. 1, 2021), and Black Adam (Dec. 22, 2021) — provided the latter two finish filming in time.

CANDYMAN

JUNE 12, 2020 → SEPT. 25, 2020 → OCT. 16, 2020

"Candyman, candyman, candyman, candyman, candyman" ... nope, he's still not here! The Nia DaCosta-directed (and Jordan Peele-produced) reboot of the horror franchise about a hook-handed phantom who tries to kill anybody who says his name five times was pushed back a few months. The fourth film in the saga is a direct sequel to the 1992 cult classic and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) stars.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK

JUNE 24, 2020 → DEC. 23, 2020

It’s been 34 years, so what’s six more months? Tom Cruise reprises his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to the 1986 action hit centered on a top Navy fighter-pilot flight school. This time Maverick instructs a group of young hotshots, including Miles Teller as the son of Maverick’s late wingman Goose.

IN THE HEIGHTS

JUNE 26, 2020 → JUNE 18, 2021

Director Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Tony-winning 2008 musical, In the Heights is set in the largely Latino community of New York City’s bustling Washington Heights.

THE FOREVER PURGE

JULY 10, 2020 → JULY 9, 2021

Purged is right. The fifth film in the saga is said to be the final outing but has been banished to an as-yet-undetermined date (there's no trailer, either). The franchise also made headlines in April when the police department in a Louisiana town used the distinctive "purge siren" to signal the start of a coronavirus curfew.

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE

JULY 10, 2020 → MARCH 5, 2021

Three members of the original poltergeist-chasing gang (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson) return in Ghostbusters: Afterlife to help residents of an Oklahoma town experiencing paranormal activity, including Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, It), who apparently lives in every haunted small town in America.

JUNGLE CRUISE

JULY 24, 2020 → JULY 30, 2021

The latest Disney park attraction-turned-movie is the second of two major postponed titles starring Emily Blunt (who is also in A Quiet Place Part II, which was delayed until Sept. 4, 2020). In Jungle Cruise, Blunt plays a scientist who enlists the help of a riverboat captain (Dwayne Johnson) to find a jungle tree with healing powers.

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