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"Fast & Furious 9" cinema release postponed - more blockbusters to follow

13.3.2020

Translation: machine translated

Corona is also paralysing Hollywood: the cinema releases of "Fast & Furious 9", "Mulan" and "A Quiet Place 2" have been postponed. The reason for this is the impending loss of millions at the box office. Next up are productions that are already running...

As the film studio Universal Pictures officially confirms, the cinema release of "Fast & Furious 9" will be postponed by almost a year to April 2021. The reason for this is the impact that the rapidly spreading coronavirus is having on the cinema landscape. In the announcement itself, actor Vin Diesel said:

We feel the anticipation you have for the next chapter in our saga. That's why it's particularly difficult for us to have to postpone the start of the film. But it has become clear that not all fans around the world would have been able to see the film at the same time in May.

This is the filmmakers' response to the threat of losing millions at the box office. The film was originally due to be released in cinemas on 21 May 2020. In the USA, "F9" will now be re-released on 2 April 2021, but a new global release date has yet to be set.

Why the international cinema markets are so important

China, but also the other cinema markets outside the USA - known as international cinema markets - are among Hollywood's increasingly important cinema markets because they have grown enormously in recent years. Accordingly, COVID-19, which the WHO has now categorised as a pandemic,has had a devastating impact. Also on the American cinema landscape.

This is illustrated by the example of "Fast and Furious".

International markets are more important for the success of the series than the United States.
Source: Universal Pictures International Switzerland

Since the sixth instalment in 2013, international revenue has accounted for an average of 76.3 per cent of the films' total revenue. For 2017's "The Fate of the Furious", 38.9 per cent of international revenue came from China alone. And without the international cinema markets, "Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw" would have grossed just $173.9 million last year - not even its own $200 million budget, which does not even include marketing costs.

So it was too big a risk for Universal to release the ninth film in the series in cinemas now. Many cinemas in China are temporarily closed due to the risk of infection. Cinemas in Italy and South Korea are also closed. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus is likely to soon lead to numerous closures in other countries.

It's not just Universal that has recently recognised the signs of the times. Other hotly anticipated blockbusters have also been postponed.

"Mulan", "A Quiet Place 2" and more

MGM's "James Bond: No Time to Die" was already postponed last week from April to November 2020.

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After "Fast & Furious 9", even more blockbusters are following the postponement frenzy: John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place: Part 2", which should have been released on 19 March, has been postponed to an unspecified date. And Sony Pictures Animation's Easter sequel "Peter Rabbit 2" will be postponed
from April to August.
Even Disney, which had originally held on to its spring dates was originally going to stick to its spring dates, has now been forced to react to the weak start of Pixar's "Onwards". Accordingly, the House of Mouse is postponing the release of "Mulan", "The New Mutants" and "Antlers" indefinitely.

More films will undoubtedly be postponed. The coronavirus will also affect current film and series productions. For example, the productions of "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" for Disney+, Marvel's "Shang-Chi", ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Morning Show" for AppleTV+ have been put on hold for the time being. It is not known when filming will resume - and whether planned start dates can still be met at all. This will hit cinema operators particularly hard financially.

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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