Major production and distribution companies like Disney and, more recently, Paramount have been announcing major shifts in their release schedules. These shifts are likely made to maximize in-theater audiences as vaccination dissemination and the possibility of watching a summer blockbuster in theaters becomes more possible. New installments to popular franchise films like The Purge have been pushed up by Universal, with The Forever Purge having a new July 4 weekend release date of July 2, instead of its original July 9. Snake Eyes: G.I Joe Origins (which initially had an October release date) will be released in theaters on July 23.
However, fans of Top Gun who were looking forward to its follow-up flick, Top Gun: Maverick, will have to wait a few more months considering the film’s initial July release date was pushed back to November 19. Paramount also released information about the next two installments of the Mission: Impossible saga: Mission: Impossible 7 was pushed from this November to May 27, 2022, and the eighth Mission: Impossible got similarly bumped from November 2022 to July 7, 2023.
Other moves include Dungeons & Dragons and Jackass 4, both bumped (though D&D moved almost a year to March 3, 2023) and the untitled next Star Trek entry landed on the calendar: June 9, 2023.
The updates hopefully signal that safe moviegoing will soon be on the horizon and, along with it, the opportunity to catch a summer blockbuster with strangers again.