Coronavirus has stupefied all major industries including the global film industry. It halted film production significantly and there had been overall closure of cinema. Gradually, normal workflow and production are beginning to resume in some countries and remote work opportunities are being provided wherever possible. In the present scenario, people have lesser confidence in returning to their normal routine given the uncertain character of the virus.

The Hollywood film industry had launched a marketing blitz three months ago with an exciting tone ‘the big screen is back’ but again the Delta variant has hindered cinema’s revival.

Recently Paramount pictures have postponed the release of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ until May 2022 and ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ until September 2022, starred by Tom Cruise.

The studios had to change the release dates and even had to postpone some movies many times during the pandemic and there have been constant ups and downs in the film industry. The pandemic has also affected ticket sales and the frequency of moviegoers.

According to distribution executives, avid moviegoers are vising cinemas but the number of casual moviegoers is becoming less.  

 The ‘Top Gun’ was set to be released in theaters on November 19, ahead of Thanksgiving Day to reawaken movie-going spirit among people. Earlier, this movie had been delayed few times. Now, this movie will be released on May 27, 2022, the next year’s Memorial Day weekend which means the release date for ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ has been moved to September 30, 2022. The ‘M: I 7’ was set to be released on May 27.

The only significant reason for this shifting of the release date is that the movie theatres want to ensure that the theatres should have plenty of crowds as the bigger crowds determine the enormous sale of tickets and profit. The theatre chains, Cineworld PIC and Cinemark Holdings see this movie as a big blockbuster starred by Tom Cruise which would attract audiences back.

They reckon the fanfare of Tome Cruise would not escape this allurement. The movie is a follow-up of 1986 hit starred by Tom Cruise as an elite U.S. Navy fighter pilot.

People are of different opinions regarding the change of release date. The senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. jeff Bock appreciates the paramount pictures’ decision as a ‘smart move’. He shared his views on Twitter as ‘Paramount needs this to be a big worldwide hit but the global marketplace isn’t there yet.

While this rescheduling of the release date is going on, theatre operators still hope that the big-budget movies will not change their release date in 2021. In the list of new releases, ‘No Time to Die’ starred by James Bond is set for release on October 8.

The other upcoming films this year are Sony’s ‘Venom: There Be Carnage’, set for October, Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ in November, and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ in December.  Whatever the release date be, cinema lovers are desperately looking forward to seeing their favorite stars on the big screen.