Last Updated: May 13, 2020
Several 2020 movies have seen their release dates delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic; here’s every film that still needs a new one. With theaters closed down and film and TV production shut-down until further notice, Hollywood’s 2020 release calendar has been all but wiped clean on through to the middle of July (with a few exceptions which will eventually have to move, as we’ll discuss later). There’s no guarantee theaters will be reopen for business by that point either, in spite of chains like Cinemark saying they hope to resume showing new movies that month.
In the meantime, studios have kept busy by either rescheduling their 2020 films to a later date this year or moving them back to 2021. Movies like Fast & Furious 9, Jungle Cruise, and In the Heights have even been postponed by as much as a literal year, in an effort to give them all an equal shot at becoming a success after their initial delay. Elsewhere, mid-budget comedies The Lovebirds and My Spy are now going straight to streaming along with Disney’s big-budget Artemis Fowl, having previously been scheduled to open in theaters in either April or May this year.
Following Trolls World Tours‘ successful VOD premiere earlier this month, Warner Bros. recently announced it’s following suit and premiering its Scooby-Doo movie SCOOB! on-demand on its original theatrical release date in May. However, even after all of these announcements, there are still a number of delayed 2020 movies waiting on a new launch time (be it for a theatrical run or streaming). Here’s the full rundown.
The New Mutants
![Every Delayed 2020 Movie Without A New Release Date](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Maisie-Williams-Charlie-Heaton-Henry-Zaga-Blu-Hunt-and-Anya-Taylor-Joy-in-New-Mutants.jpg)
Josh Boone’s The New Mutants had been delayed no less than four times from its original release date in April 2018, most recently in response to the coronavirus. Because of this, it’s heavily speculated Disney will eventually decide to give up on a theatrical run entirely and release the X-Men spinoff straight to streaming (either as a Disney+ exclusive or on VOD first) in the next few months. Then again, there is a spot in October which just opened up thanks to Venom: Let There Be Carnage moving to Summer 2021, and it could be perfect for the spooky mutant thriller – so who knows?
UPDATE: The New Mutants has been rescheduled for an August 28, 2020 theatrical release date.
Antlers
![Antlers movie 2020 mask](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Antlers-movie-2020-mask.jpg)
Another horror film Disney acquired in its purchase of Fox, Scott Cooper’s Antlers is still expected to make its way to theaters after being delayed from its original April 2020 date. It’s another viable candidate for the October 2 opening recently created by the Venom sequel’s departure, or could even arrive closer to Halloween at the end of that month (assuming Disney and Searchlight Pictures don’t mind premiering it right after Halloween Kills). The Guillermo del Toro-produced supernatural thriller is a lower-budget production, though, so a direct to streaming release shouldn’t be ruled out, either.
Run
![Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen in Run](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sarah-Paulson-and-Kiera-Allen-in-Run.jpg)
Aneesh Chaganty’s followup to his breakout hit Searching – titled simply Run – was all ready to open in May before the coronavirus outbreak took a turn for the worse, and is currently awaiting a new date. Prior to that, however, Lionsgate had the psychological thriller scheduled to open back in January, so it would only be fitting if they went ahead and bumped it back to January of 2021 instead. That month has become surprisingly fertile ground for horror movies and thrillers in years past (though not so much in 2020), but for now we’ll have to wait and see what the studio does here.
The Personal History of David Copperfield
![The Personal History of David Copperfield with Dev Patel](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-Personal-History-of-David-Copperfield-with-Dev-Patel.jpg)
Dev Patel was originally poised to have a great run in May, between The Personal History of David Copperfield (a re-imagining of the classic Charles Dickens novel directed by Armando Iannucci) premiereing stateside and David Lowery’s The Green Knight (which Patel also stars in) opening at the tail-end of the month. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, though, David Copperfield was pulled off the release calendar and is still waiting on a fresh date from Disney. Considering this one’s gotten great reviews so far, the Mouse House may be inspired to shift it to an awards season-friendly spot in the fall.
The Woman in the Window
![Amy Adams in The Woman in the Window](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Amy-Adams-in-The-Woman-in-the-Window.jpg)
Disney overhauled its release slate through to 2022 at the beginning of April, yet left a number of noteworthy Fox films up in the air. That includes Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window, a Hitchcockian murder mystery that was originally supposed to open in October 2019, but eventually delayed for reshoots and moved back to May 2020. After pulling it because of the coronavirus, Disney has been hesitant to reschedule this one and with (arguably) fair reason; between the not-so-promising early buzz and the movie being geared towards adults, there’s not really an obvious new spot to move it to.
Last Night in Soho
![Anya Taylor-Joy in Last Night in Soho](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Anya-Taylor-Joy-in-Last-Night-in-Soho.jpg)
Edgar Wright’s psycho-horror-thriller Last Night in Soho wasn’t directly affected by the coronavirus, but lost its original spot in late September as a result of studios subsequently reshuffling their release slates for 2020. With September now filled to the brim with scary movies after both A Quiet Place Part II and the new Candyman were delayed to that month, Wright’s film will have to either arrive later in the fall or wait until 2021 rolls around. October still has some openings (as mentioned earlier), but with so many horror projects awaiting new dates, that pre-Halloween space may fill up pretty quickly.
Malignant
![James Wan directing The Conjuring](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/conjuring-james-wan.jpg)
Much like its fellow original horror-thriller Last Night in Soho, James Wan’s Malignant losing its release date was part of the domino effect of so many films being postponed from mid-March on to July. In this case, Warner Bros. swapped out Malignant for Wonder Woman 1984 in mid-August and has yet to settle on a new spot for Wan’s latest scarefest. Once again, this October and January 2021 are both reasonable options, though it’s also possible WB will pull another year-long delay and shift Malignant back to a different summer date – albeit, in 2021, rather than this year.
Antebellum
![Janelle Monae in Antebellum](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Janelle-Monae-in-Antebellum.jpg)
Add yet another to the pile of original 2020 horror movies needing a new date after being delayed by the coronavirus. Antebellum, a supernatural thriller starring Janelle Monae, was originally scheduled to arrive near the end of April, but is currently sitting on the sidelines awaiting a fresh spot from Lionsgate. This one has also been a source of speculation when it comes to films which could release straight to streaming (as Lionsgate has done with similarly smaller projects in the past), rather than trying to compete in the increasingly-crowded second half of 2020. Until then, its fate remains up in the air.
UPDATE: Antebellum is now scheduled to open on August 21, 2020.
Greyhound
![Tom Hanks in Greyhound Movie](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Tom-Hanks-in-Greyhound-Movie.jpg)
Tom Hanks has no less than three movies arriving in 2020, including the sci-fi drama BIOS in October and historical drama News of the World in December. For the same reason, however, some have speculated his WWII adventure Greyhound (which he both wrote and stars in) could end up premiering on-demand after being delayed from its most recent release date in June. This is another example of a film where there isn’t an obvious place for it to go, post-coronavirus pandemic, which explains why it’s merely sitting on the back-burner while studios readjust their plans for the rest of the year.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
![Chris Rock in Spiral movie](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Chris-Rock-in-Spiral-movie.jpg)
Of all the non-superhero horror movies waiting on a new release date, Spiral is easily the one with the most hype thanks to its connection to the Saw franchise (which it continues in some yet-to-be-revealed fashion). The Chris Rock-led thriller had to vacate its previous spot in May because of the coronavirus and arguably has the best shot at landing one of the coveted dates near Halloween in late October out of all the 2020 scarefests currently in a holding pattern. In fact, every other Saw movie so far has opened in October, so moving Spiral there feels like a no-brainer.
UPDATE: Lionsate has rescheduled Spiral to open on May 21, 2021.
Other Movies
![Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sundance-promising-young-woman.jpg)
On top of all the bigger 2020 movies in need of a new release date after being delayed, there are also smaller indie titles like Promising Young Woman and Saint Maud (both of which premiered to strong reviews on the film festival circuit over the past twelve months) stuck waiting in line along with them. Elsewhere, films ranging from The Green Knight to The Purge 5 (rumored to be titled The Forever Purge) and Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island are holding onto their current dates in May, June, and the beginning of July, but will similarly need to be rescheduled in the future. Watch this space for further updates on those fronts.