For months now, studios have been kicking potential blockbusters like No Time To Die, Black Widow and Fast & Furious 9 down the line. This comes amid an extraordinarily weak box office. This weekend, 101 Studios‘ War With Grandpa has ended Tenet‘s seven-week run at the top of the box office, bringing in $3.6 million over the Robert Pattinson-starrer's $2.1 million.
In many cases, the postponements have turned into dominoes, with No Time To Die taking the date F9 had, and Dune scuttling forward to next October as Wonder Woman 1984 moved to a Christmas release. Then The Batman bumped all the way to 2022. The first part of 2021 for now is full, with The King’s Men, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Cinderella and the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark opening in the first quarter. F9 is now set to be released on Memorial Day, No Time to Die will open in April.
“Just because 2020 ends doesn’t mean the problems we’re facing now will go away,” said Robbins. “They have to keep moving the goal post because of that lack of predictability.”