The 2022 movie release calendar is very different in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic; here's what's changed. It's funny now to remember how, at one point, 2020 was expected to be a slower movie year due to a lack of "events" on the level of Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and even a sequel like Frozen 2. Obviously, nobody could've imagined the massive impact the COVID-19 outbreak would have on the entertainment industry, forcing film and TV production to shut down and studios to overhaul their release slate. 2020 has, in a sense, been a slower movie year, but for completely different reasons than expected.
Things could pick up significantly in the second half of 2020, however, assuming studios are able to stick to their revised release calendar. The month of November alone is overflowing with would-be blockbusters alone, ranging from James Bond adventure No Time to Die to Pixar Animation's latest original feature Soul. Similarly, 2021 now has an insane amount of tentpoles, between everything previously scheduled and all the 2020 movies that've move back to steer clear of the ongoing health crisis. Even 2022 is beginning to look overcrowded, some twenty months ahead of time.
In a short amount of time, 2022's release calendar has significantly changed because of the pandemic - and keep in mind, this is all long before the majority of the year's "event" films have even been announced. It's also likely a number of 2021 movies will eventually be delayed to 2022, either to make room for all the postponed 2020 films and/or because the production shutdowns will make it impossible for them to make their current dates. So, let's take a look at 2022's movie slate, both before and after the virus.
What 2022's Movie Release Calendar Originally Looked Like
Prior to the pandemic, 2022 was shaping up to be a fairly regular movie year. Probably the most unusual thing about it was Warner Bros. had scheduled three DCEU films to open in the same twelve-month period for the first time (and that's not counting the animated DC Super Pets movie, which is set for May 2022). Elsewhere, Marvel Studios and Disney had already announced Black Panther 2 as their early May release and claimed a spot in July for another MCU project that turned out to be Captain Marvel 2. Add Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 to the equation and 2022 had the makings of another milestone for superhero cinema (if not so much film in general).
Just as importantly in some ways, these comic book movies were all carefully spaced out to avoid stepping on one another's toes and give each other room to breathe. The Shazam! and Spider-Verse sequels were positioned to kick things off in April, following by Black Panther 2 and The Flash in May and July and, finally, Aquaman 2 at the end of the year in December. Had the pandemic never happened, The Flash might've been the only superhero film to move from its original spot to avoid going head to head with Carol Danvers' return to the big screen.
How 2022 Movie Releases Have Changed
Due to the MCU's multi-film narrative, it's impossible to move one movie around without impacting the rest of them. Because of this, the entire Phase 4 MCU movie slate had to be altered after Black Widow was unable to open in May 2020 as intended, resulting in Thor: Love & Thunder having to move back to February 2022 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gaining its former spot in November 2021. However, things changed again when Sony delayed its third MCU Spider-Man film from July 2021 to the following November. In order to accommodate them, Disney bumped the Doctor Strange sequel back to March 2022 - raising the total number of MCU sequels that year to an unprecedented four (plus an untitled fifth MCU film tentatively due to arrive in the fall).
Elsewhere, Disney also shifted Indiana Jones 5 back yet another year from July 2021 to July 2022, in order to avoid pitting the Harrison Ford adventure against Dwayne Johnson's own period swashbuckler, Jungle Cruise (which itself was postponed from July 2020 to July 2021 because of the coronavirus). On the non-Disney front, Paramount moved its Dungeons & Dragons movie reboot back from November 2021 to July 2022, presumably in anticipation of the film (which is still in early development) being unable to hit its previous date because of the recent production shutdowns. The studio additionally pushed Mission: Impossible 8 from August to November 2022 after the filming on the seven installment (which it's shooting back-to-back with) was stopped. Lastly, Lionsgate has moved John Wick 4 back twelve months from its original date in May 2021, in anticipation of Keanu Reeves having a lot more filming to do on The Matrix 4 when it restarts production later this year (maybe?).
Will 2022 Be Too Crowded With Blockbuster Movies?
Because of the pandemic, there are now four MCU sequels releasing in 2022 (plus, again, a potential fifth MCU movie - possibly the Blade reboot?), in addition to three DCEU movies, an animated Sony-Marvel sequel, an animated DC Comics adaptation, an Indiana Jones sequel, a John Wick sequel, a Mission: Impossible sequel, and a partridge in a pear tree (sorry, had to be done). On top of all that, Paramount only just scheduled a new Transformers film to open in June that year, and there's still a mysterious Star Wars movie (probably not Taika Waititi's, though) opening in December. That would be quite enough for a single year on its own, but there are also a whole lot of untitled projects - ranging from new Disney live-action remakes to Universal and WB "event" films, and the latest features from Disney, Pixar, and Illumination Animation - that've planted their flags in the sand to take into account.
Between that and the likelihood of certain films being delayed from 2021 to 2022 down the line (like Fantastic Beasts 3, which may struggle to hit its November 2021 release date after postponing the start of production), it's reasonable to assume something's gotta give. The 2022 lineup simply doesn't seem realistic when you remember just how many other movies haven't even been announced for that year... and it would still risk being overcrowded with blockbusters with the ones already confirmed. Naturally, studios are anxious about getting their biggest tentpoles out in theaters as soon as possible, but they're going to have to adapt to the new normal (whatever it looks like) in the wake of the pandemic and continue adjusting their plans accordingly. That includes waiting to see if they're actually able to release the movies scheduled for the second half of 2020, much less trying to get ahead of the curve two years from now.