Summary
- Sony has made significant changes to its release calendar, moving around seven movie release dates, including “Gran Turismo” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2.”
- Highly anticipated films like “Bad Boys 4” and “Venom 3” have been officially dated for 2024 release.
- The potential impact of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes is causing uncertainty for release dates and may result in some movies being shifted further depending on the strike’s duration.
With the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes still ongoing, Sony has officially moved seven movie release dates. The Writer’s Guild of America first went on strike in May, raising concerns of artificial intelligence overtaking their jobs and commissions from streaming residuals. SAG-AFTRA followed suit on July 14, expressing similar concerns to their writer counterparts about AI, likeness rights and streaming residuals, as well as being limited on utilizing self-tapes for auditions.
As the summer nears a close, Sony has announced a major shift in their release calendar. The studio is moving around seven release dates, including Gran Turismo, Madame Web, Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2, Kraven the Hunter, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Karate Kid and They Listen. Sony has also officially dated the highly anticipated Bad Boys 4 and Venom 3 for 2024 release dates. Check out the studio’s updated release schedule below:
Newly Dated:
- Untitled Bad Boys Sequel (Columbia Pictures) – June 14, 2024, Father’s Day weekend
- Untitled Venom Sequel (Columbia Pictures) – July 12, 2024
Shifted Release Dates:
- Gran Turismo (Columbia Pictures) – August 25, 2023, with nationwide sneaks the weekends of 8/11 and 8/18 (from August 11, 2023); the stars can’t promote the movie, but the audience can
- Madame Web (Columbia Pictures) – February 14, 2024, Valentine’s Day (from February 16, 2024)
- Untitled Ghostbusters Sequel (Columbia Pictures) – March 29, 2024, Easter weekend (from December 20, 2023)
- Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation) – TBC (from March 29, 2024); the studio is considering several dates depending on how long the strike lasts
- Kraven the Hunter (Columbia Pictures) – August 30, 2024, Labor Day weekend (from October 6, 2023)
- Karate Kid (Columbia Pictures) – December 13, 2024 (from June 7, 2024)
- They Listen (Columbia Pictures/Blumhouse) – TBC (from August 30, 2024)
The Sony Release Delays Explained
The announcement of major release delays seemed on the horizon as a number of studios found themselves without creatives to promote their projects and taking to the picket lines. Even before the SAG-AFTRA strike kicked off, Marvel had announced the delay of six Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, leading to the push back of such anticipated projects as Fantastic Four and both Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
Given Sony’s Spider-Man Universe last installment, Jared Leto’s Morbius, struggled at the box office, the delays of both Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web are two of the biggest to find themselves delayed. The extended gap between SSU releases could ultimately prove in their favor as audiences are able to better forget the critical struggles the franchise has endured thus far. That being said, considering both Venom movies were box office successes and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has set multiple records, this gap could also prove a hindrance for keeping audience interest.
Sony moving ahead with Venom 3‘s release date, on the other hand, is a positive sign both for the Tom Hardy trilogy ender and its box office chances. At the time of writing, the only competition it faces are that of Despicable Me 4 and Mufasa: The Lion King the week prior. Additionally, with Captain America: Brave New World coming a full two weeks later, Venom 3 could very well keep the SSU alive should Madame Web underwhelm in its Valentine’s Day release.
Source: Sony