Recently, Disney and Marvel Studios opted to delay the release of “The Marvels” by four months – pushing the film back from July 28th to November 10th. The superhero team-up film serves as a sequel to “Captain Marvel” whilst also incorporating characters from “WandaVision” and “Ms. Marvel”.
The shift had no impact on the rest of Marvel’s release slate, and has actually more evenly spaced out the gaps between MCU entries on either side to six months with the third ‘Guardians’ this May and fourth “Captain America” next May.
According to The Wrap, the move is being done to give more time for post-production to complete according to studio insiders. Justin Simien’s more completed “Haunted Mansion” adaptation is taking over the old “The Marvels” slot in July.
The shift does put the film in the firing line of Disney’s animated musical “Wish” which is set for a Thanksgiving release just twelve days later. Whilst pre-pandemic Disney had no issues opening a Marvel and an animated film in the same month, since then it’s been a trickier prospect.
Last year’s release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Strange World” a few weeks apart saw the latter flop badly at the box-office – earning just $73 million worldwide compared to ‘Wakanda Forever’ which ended its run with $855 million.
This year both properties are considerably less sure bets than a “Black Panther” sequel, and they face tougher competition in cinemas such as Legendary’s sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” currently set to open the same day as “The Marvels”.
There’s also “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” prequel and animated sequels “Trolls 3” and “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” to compete with for family audiences. “Wish” marks the first original Disney animated musical to open in the November release slot since “Moana” seven years ago (not counting “Encanto” which was impacted by releasing in the middle of the pandemic).
Whether either film will soar or sink it’s too early to tell but November is looking to be a fiercely busy time at the cinema.
