New Disney CEO Bob Chapek held a second-quarter earnings call today, and, as you might expect, there wasn't much in the way of positive updates.
Fans were hoping the Mouse House might be able to give us some idea when we should expect work to resume/begin on the likes of Shang-Chi, Thor: Love and Thunder, and other big studio tentpoles that were forced to halt production due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but with the entire world still in the grip of the virus, everything is still very much up in the air.
Chapek said there were currently “no projections” for when tentpole projects could be reactivated, but added that Disney “will be very responsible in terms of masks… when we proceed.” As for the movies that are still set for theatrical release later this year such as Black Widow and Mulan, Chapek bluntly stated that “we very much believe in the cinema experience to launch blockbuster moves.” However, he did add that decisions on how films roll out will be made on a "case by case" basis.
Right now, it looks like Mulan will be the first major Disney release to "test the waters" on July 24, but that seems highly unlikely if things continue the way they have been over the next few months. Even if theaters do get permission to reopen soon - and they might - it's going to take a while for audiences to feel safe venturing back to those cinema seats.
At any rate, Warner Bros.' Tenet is scheduled to open a week before Mulan, so Disney is going to be watching what happens with that movie very closely indeed.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.