Disney's reason for delaying some of their major 2022 movie releases is reportedly due to production concerns. 2022 was set to be a Marvel-heavy year, but Disney recently pushed back several MCU movies and removed the release dates for 2 unnamed ones altogether. Among the delayed are the highly anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which have been pushed back to May 6 and November 11, 2022, respectively. Along with the Marvel disruptions, the still-untitled Indiana Jones 5 release date has been moved almost a full year, from July 29, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

After the COVID-19 pandemic caused mayhem in Disney's 2020 release schedule, prompting the difficult decision to delay movies such as Black Widow, West Side Story (2021), and Eternals, viewers hoped that the re-opening of theatres around the world would discourage any further schedule disruption. There has been lots of controversy surrounding Disney's trialed VOD release model, which saw films released on Disney+ on the same day as they were in theatres, an experiment that has been put on hold for the remainder of any 2021 releases. Nonetheless, the pandemic has hit the box office hard, and with many films underperforming, it's easy to assume these schedule changes are financially motivated.

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According to Variety, however, sources at Disney say that its mass-rescheduling is due to issues involving production, rather than concerns over box office returns. Post-production on major blockbusters can often run right up to the last minute, meaning that any delay during filming can have serious consequences. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently still in production, and due to the intricate web that connects the movies and TV shows within the MCU, one setback can shift a whole chain of releases.

Thor Love and Thunder Release Delay

The pandemic is evidently still causing disruption within Hollywood, whether this be financially or production-related. Alongside this, the tensions surrounding the dissatisfaction over the newly reached IATSE agreement may have prompted fears that workers could strike after all, which would significantly impact production industry-wide. While this could explain the general decision to shift things around, individual decisions were clearly driven by more than just these factors. The MCU domino-effect pushing its release calendar by a couple of months makes sense in this light, for example, but delaying Indiana Jones 5 a full year for the same reason would seem a bit drastic.

Unfortunately, Marvel fans, as well as those of the Indiana Jones franchise, are going to have to wait a little longer to see some of the films that they have so eagerly anticipated. Whether Disney could announce further delays to their release schedule is currently unknown, but hopefully this is not the case and production for projects can eventually continue as planned. Fans need not be too disheartened, though, as most of the movies have only been pushed back a few months.

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Source: Variety

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