In a move that surprises no one at this point, Disney and Marvel have decided to postpone the opening of Black Widow, the Scarlett Johansson comic book film that was set to open on May 1st. As with other postponed films, there isn’t a new release date set for the movie. Your guess is as good as mine. If I had to wager an estimate, I’d say maybe it’ll come out in November?
Black Widow joins a long list of other major films that have been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mulan, The New Mutants, F9 and many other movies have been put on the shelf as all major cinema chains close and the government advises people to self-quarantine to avoid infection. Disney was holding out hope that the outbreak would subside a little by May 1st but it’s becoming more and more obvious that this is going to be an epidemic that lasts more than just a couple weeks. People expecting a brief pause of civilization are in for a rude awakening. Besides, even if the pandemic were to end today, companies (including theater chains) are going to need time to get back up to full working capacity. There will be growing pains as the world lumbers back to life. Given the circumstances, there was just no way that Black Widow was going to have an opportune release window within the next couple months.
Disney also postponed other upcoming films along with Black Widow like The Personal History of David Copperfield and The Woman in the Window, which are being released by Disney-owned Searchlight and 20th Century Studios respectively. That pretty much clears up their entire schedule for the foreseeable future. So there is no longer a question about will they or won’t they? We no longer have to wonder which films will be delayed. The answer is all of them. All the movies are being pushed back. Everything is getting postponed, from Disney and from every other studio. With Black Widow’s delay, it’s now apparent that it’s not just March or April films that’ll be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The entire summer and possibly the entire rest of 2020 is being impacted by this disease. The end isn’t in sight yet.