Disney has announced a major release calendar reshuffle as the writers’ strike pushes back production on all its major franchises.
This is terrible news for Disney, who have seen their once recession-proof model crumble over recent years.
Disney’s theme parks business took a major hit during the pandemic, and is only just recovering, their streaming service struggles to compete against Netflix as subscriptions slow and costs mount, and operating income from the company’s linear TV segment, including ESPN and the Disney Channel, fell by 35 per cent year-on-year during the most recent quarter.
Now its cinematic stable is taking a hit, meaning income expected to appear on balance sheets in various quarters will now arrive later than planned.
Marvel, Avatar, and Star Wars are three of the company’s biggest franchises; all of which have been impacted by the ongoing WGA strike.
From the Marvel stable, Captain America: Brave New World is moving from May 3, 2024, to July 26, 2024, pushing Thunderbolts to Dec. 20, 2024, Blade to Feb. 14, 2025, and Fantastic Four to May 2, 2025. Two Avengers movies are also being pushed back an entire year.
The Star Wars film slated for December 2025 is being pushed back to May 2026, while another was pushed from early 2027 to December that year. To appease fans, Disney has slotted another Star Wars film in for December 2026.
The three Avatar movies are being pushed back by a year: Avatar 3 has shifted to December 2025; Avatar 4 to December 2029; and Avatar 5 to Dec. 19, 2031.
Producer Jon Landau noted that technology, rather than writing, was the reason for the Avatar delays.
“Each ‘Avatar’ film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect,” Landau wrote on Twitter.
“The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025.”
