Free Guy and Death on the Nile, two of the last remaining high-profile 2020 holdouts, have vacated their December release windows, and now find themselves undated.
Disney-owned 20th Century has removed Shawn Levy's video game-inspired action comedy and Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express follow-up from their scheduled spots. Free Guy, which stars Ryan Reynolds, was set to hit theaters on December 11, while Branagh's star-studded Death on the Nile was going to open on December 28.
With coronavirus cases continuing to surge in the U.S., 55% of theaters remain closed in vital markets such as New York City and Los Angeles, so these delays were probably inevitable. Right now, the only major studio tentpole yet to budge is Wonder Woman 1984, but we're expecting Warner Bros. to announce that Patty Jenkins' DC Comics sequel has moved into 2021 any day now.
Some studios are sticking to their guns when it comes to smaller-scale releases, however. Universal's The Croods: A New Age is expected to have a shortened theatrical window ahead of a PVOD drop at Christmas, while horror comedy Freaky is still dated for November 13.
Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter, meanwhile, could still debut in Asian markets before the end of the year.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.