A new report examines what studios are planning to do with the movies that've seen their release dates delayed by the coronavirus. As everyone is well-aware by now, the COVID-19 outbreak has had a massive impact on the entertainment industry, with theaters shutting down across the globe and several films being indefinitely postponed. A few of those movies - like No Time to Die and Fast & Furious 9 - have since been scheduled for new dates as far away as a year from now. However, the vast majority of them are waiting to receive one at a later point in time.

Given the fluid nature of the coronavirus pandemic, studios are understandably hesitant to reschedule their delayed films until they have a clearer understanding of when life could go back to normal. Problem is, because they schedule their films years in advance these days, the release calendar is already full for the rest of 2020, leaving little to no wiggle room for changes. However, there are a few different ways for Hollywood to work around this.

Related: Delayed Movies Still Expected To Release In Theaters, NOT Online

In an article published by Variety, analysts point out there could be space for some of these delayed films around Labor Day, in addition to the weeks between the Thanksgiving and New Year's holidays. Paul W.S. Anderson's Monster Hunter video game movie is the only major title scheduled for this year's Labor Day weekend, so there's arguably room for another wide release there. The last two weeks of August are equally slow, with the sequels Bill & Ted Face the Music and The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard being the only significant films. Normally, a late August release would be a death mark for a tentpole but, given the current circumstances, it's a feasible option for, say, delayed releases like A Quiet Place Part II or New Mutants.

Black Widow 2020 teaser poster

As it so happens, December is another possibility for a number of the delayed films. There's no new Star Wars movie coming out in 2020 and releases like Dune and West Side Story aren't expected to perform nearly as well as last year's December hits (Jumanji: The Next Level and The Rise of Skywalker). The month could prove tricky for Disney; they're releasing both West Side Story and The Last Duel through 20th Century Studios over that frame and won't want to risk hurting the box office returns for either of them by pitting them against a delayed spring blockbuster like Mulan or Black Widow. There is a backup option, though; with so many 2021 releases having shut down production as the coronavirus spreads, some of them could end up being delayed and having their former dates given to movies originally slated for 2020, instead.

For now, it's impossible to say for certain what Hollywood will actually do with all the movies delayed by the coronavirus. The industry is still waiting to see how the outbreak plays out from here. In the best-case scenario, theaters will be able to reopen worldwide beginning around the middle of May and studios can space out their postponed films from there. However, there is a real possibility things will remain on shut-down on through to the middle of summer, leading to delays for movies as far away as Jungle Cruise in late July. In the meantime, it's important for everyone to continue practicing self-quarantining and social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and, hopefully, allow life to get back to normal sooner than later.

NEXT: Coronavirus: Every Movie & TV Show Production Delayed

Source: Variety