'Deadpool 3' Gets New Release Date
by EG
Next year will feature only one new Marvel theatrical movie as Disney rearranges release dates after the end of the actors' strike in Hollywood. Deadpool 3 will be the only Marvel movie in 2024, which might help the possible over-saturation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the light of decreasing enthusiasm for superhero movies in general. After that, 2025 will be a little busier, with at least three new MCU movies hitting theaters during the year. Read on for details.
Summer tentpole Deadpool 3 will swim into theaters a bit later than originally anticipated as part of a slate shift for Marvel Studios. Disney announced late Wednesday that the high-profile threequel will now open at the domestic box officeJuly 26, 2024 instead of May 3, 2024.
Captain America: New World Order, which previously held that July date, has been moved nine months to Feb. 14, 2025.
In other moves, Marvel’s anti-hero centric movie Thunderbolts, starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, has moved to July 25, 2025 (pushed back from Dec. 20, 2024). Blade, starring Mahershala Ali, has been delayed nine months, moving to Nov. 7, 2025 (back from Feb. 14, 2025). Both Blade and Thunderbolts were planning on going into production this summer but did not have scripts that were ready in time, so they shut down amid the writers strike in May.
At this stage, Marvel now just has one film on the 2024 calendar (Deadpool), which could help the film feel special in an era in which some superhero projects have been challenged at the box office. Marvel has four features in 2024 (including Fantastic Four, previously set for May 5, 2024).
In non-Marvel changes, Disney pushed Mufasa: The Lion King to Dec. 20, 2024 (back from July 5, 2024). Barry Jenkins directs the prequel.
Deadpool 3 — with Ryan Reynolds returning in the titular role and producer’s chair — was among a number of Hollywood productions that had to halt shooting when the actors went on strike in July.
Marvel and the Deadpool team, which also includes director Shawn Levy and co-star Hugh Jackman, sprung into action Tuesday night after SAG announced it has reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios to end the strike, which lasted a grueling 117 days. Insiders say the plan is for Levy to resume shooting in London in the next two weeks (Marvel and Disney paid to keep the sets intact, while a crew is standing by).
The filmmakers are intent on opening the film in summer, which is prime time for superhero fare, and will need all the extra time they can get to complete filming the second half of the movie. Levy and Reynolds used the downtime during the strike to edit what they had shot, as well as begin special-effects work, according to sources.
Captain America: New World Order, starring Anthony Mackie as Captain America/Sam Wilson, completed principal photography prior to the strikes, so the move to a later date was not anticipated, as many believed it would swap dates with Deadpool and open in May 2024.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.