New Mulan film postponed indefinitely

LOS ANGELES • Walt Disney on Thursday postponed the debut of its movie Mulan indefinitely, dealing a new blow to theatre operators that were counting on the live-action epic to help attract audiences during a pandemic.

Mulan was scheduled to reach theatres in March, but its release has been postponed several times as many cinemas remain closed.

The film was most recently set to debut on Aug 21 and cinema operators had hoped it would help spark a late-summer rebound in moviegoing.

Disney also said it had delayed the next film instalments from two of its biggest franchises, Avatar and Star Wars, by one year as the novel coronavirus has disrupted production.

The Avatar sequel is now set to debut in theatres in December 2022 and the next Star Wars movie in December 2023.

"It's become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis," a Disney representative said.

"Today, that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world."

The Mulan delay follows Warner Bros' decision to postpone the August release of the Christopher Nolan thriller, Tenet. The two films were seen as cinemas' best chance to salvage part of the lucrative summer season.

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures will delay the sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home by one month to Dec 17, 2021, reported entertainment news outlet Variety.

The AMC and Cineworld movie theatre chains on Thursday pushed back the reopening date for their United States theatres to at least mid-August from the end of the month.

The Avatar delay removes one of next year's biggest movies.

The follow-up to James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster - the second highest-grossing film of all time - Avatar 2 had faced numerous delays even before the coronavirus outbreak. At one time, it had been expected to reach theatres in 2014.

Disney has not released details on the next Star Wars film.

REUTERS