Hollywood is still in a hugely reactive phase due to the Coronavirus pandemic, with virtually every project that was either filming or about to start rolling cameras getting halted, while the upcoming release schedule has essentially been wiped clean as the studios try to find new dates for their movies once the crisis is over.
Disney seem to be holding back on rescheduling the likes of Black Widow and Mulan until they have a better idea of when things will get back to normal, but Sony recently took the bold step of pushing back some of their biggest box office prospects until 2021, following the lead of Universal who moved their guaranteed billion dollar hit Fast & Furious 9 by almost a full year.
Morbius was set to land in July but has now been set for next March, family film Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway has moved from August until January and Tom Holland’s Uncharted adaptation, which wasn’t even meant to hit theaters until March 2021 anyway, has now been shunted back by seven months.
The biggest change though saw the highly-anticipated Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was originally scheduled for July alongside Morbius, also moved to a March release. With less than four months to go, fans were getting hyped to see the latest addition to the classic franchise, especially those who gave Paul Feig’s reboot so much grief. However, the news has caused many to take to social media and vent their frustrations, and you can see some of the reactions below.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife delayed until 2021, that is not dope
— Conner (@Conner_W82) March 31, 2020
No baseball, no Succession, no Barry, no Ghostbusters. pic.twitter.com/9lTSY6dPhe
— TV Bill™ (@5States) March 31, 2020
BUT I WANTED TO SEE GHOSTBUSTERS!! pic.twitter.com/OBRYrZAY7q
— N Alessandro K (@NicholasKalikow) March 31, 2020
"Ghostbusters Delayed" pic.twitter.com/IdfLFNIWOL
— marc (rocko) (@_mightymarc_) March 31, 2020
Ghostbusters Afterlife delayed until March. If the Coronavirus was a person, I’d hit it in the mouth.
— Joe Doyle (@joe_doyle) March 31, 2020
If there’s one thing this fandom is good at, it’s waiting for Ghostbusters 3.
Hang in there. It will be worth it.
— Positively Ghostbusters (@PositivelyGB) March 31, 2020
Damn you, CoronaVirus! No #ghostbusters Afterlife until 2021! 🤬 pic.twitter.com/NqcFAqTLqk
— Jamie Harvey (@Sirjamieharvey) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/thatboy1028/status/1244793214097412097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244793214097412097&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fghostbusters-afterlife-release-date-delay-coronavirus-fans-angry%2F
Ghostbusters: Afterlife has been pushed to March 2021. 😭👻🚫
I completely understand, but my poor little ghost heart is broken. 💔 Who am I Gonna Call this Summer? pic.twitter.com/L9Qn129rnm
— Emily Rose ✨ (@Frankly_Emily) March 31, 2020
Obviously, we’re currently living in an unprecedented situation and dealing with it on a day by day basis, but with movies that weren’t even set to get released for another for months being widely delayed, it appears as though Hollywood is bracing itself for the worst. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set to be a pivotal moment for the long-running series, one that could either launch a new franchise or end it completely, but fans are just going to have to wait a while longer to find out which way things go.