Sony Removes ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ From Its Schedule, Delays ‘Kraven the Hunter’, and Dates ‘Venom 3’ Among Other Changes Amid Dual Strike
And so it begins, the Great Delaying of our time. On Friday, Sony Pictures announced that, after being unwilling to sit back with the actors and writers of Hollywood to negotiate a fair deal and get the industry back on its feet, they are delaying most of their upcoming schedule, including Kraven the Hunter, the new Ghostbusters movie, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Check out the breakdown of the changes here (via Deadline):
- Gran Turismo will now open on August 25, after two weeks of showing sneak previews at the cinemas. Sony hopes this move will help them promote the film through audience buzz rather than actors.
- Madame Web is moving up two days and will now open on Valentine’s Day — February 14, 2024. This is probably something the studio was already planning to do, and they saw the opportunity now; it’s obviously subject to change if the strike somehow lasts until then.
- Kraven the Hunter will now open on August 30, 2024 (originally dated October 6). Whether or not the strike as been called off by then, the promotional tours of these movies start way in advance, and because Sony doesn’t think the actors will be back to work before Labor Day, they are not taking any chances. It’s interesting, however, that they are not pushing for the domino effect and have Kraven open in February and Madame Web in August, or even Kraven in July and Venom 3 in August (scroll down for more info on Venom). Perhaps they were planning on additional photography after the poor reception of that trailer, and this isn’t necessarily motivated by the strike.
- The yet-untitled Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel is moving to March 29, 2024, leaving its December 20 spot. According to Deadline, this is because the studio needs actors for the post-production process rather than just promotional material.
- Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has been delayed indefinitely. While it was assumed the film wouldn’t make its March 29, 2024, release since Vulture published an anonymous op-ed signed by an animator from Across the Spider-Verse who said that no production hadn’t started by June.
- The Karate Kid reboot will now come out on December 13, 2024, as opposed to June 7. This is probably because filming hadn’t finished by the time the strike was called.
- Blumhouse’s They Listen has been delayed indefinitely, leaving its August 30, 2024, spot.
Not all of the announcements are delays, though, as the studio has also dated Bad Boys 4 to roll into theaters on June 14, 2024 (production wrapped in June), as well as Venom 3 for a July 12, 2024, release (as opposed to the typical October date these movies get). Venom 3 started filming in June, so it was deep into production by the time the actors’ strike was called, and it was one of the first movies to announce they would be stopping work.
For now, the few titles that have stayed on their release dates are The Equalizer 3, which managed to do some interviews ahead of the strike and will rely on the devoted Denzel Washington audience to show up on September 1, and Dumb Money, which will open at TIFF ahead of its September 22 release.
Stay tuned as more studios announce delays; it won’t be long before Disney and Warner Bros. start moving their pieces.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
