Following Disney’s reported decision to postpone the release of Deadpool 3 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Paramount is following suit by delaying some of its major upcoming releases including Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 and A Quiet Place: Day One.
Mission: Impossible 8 has apparently begun production, but had to halt due to the strike. Paramount is pushing its release back by almost a year, from June 28, 2024 to May 23, 2025, which is Memorial Day weekend. Last year, another Tom Cruise vehicle, Top Gun: Maverick took off and went on to become his highest-grossing movie of all time. But after the lackluster performance of Dead Reckoning Part One, it’s unlikely that Part Two will soar quite so high.
A Quiet Place: Day One isn’t taking as large a shift, moving just a few months from March 8, 2024 to June 28, 2024. Yes, that’s M:I 8‘s old opening date. This will not directly connect to the first two A Quiet Place movies and won’t include any of the existing characters. Michael Sarnoski directs, taking over from John Krasinski, however, Krasinski did come up with the story for this installment and will act as a producer.
Lupita Nyong’o heads up the cast, which also includes Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou (does this guy ever turn down a role?), and Denis O’Hare.
Back to Krasinski, his next directorial effort IF (formerly called Imaginary Friends) starring himself and Ryan Reynolds is actually moving up a week from May 24, 2024, to May 17. This is a family-skewing film, so this shift removes it from the crowded Memorial Day weekend where another family flick is still set to open, the reboot of Garfield. Also due to open on Memorial Day weekend are franchise pics Furiosa and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
The as-yet-untitled next SpongeBob SquarePants theatrical feature is swimming from May 23, 2025 to Dec. 19, 2025, which is odd in that it will now open opposite Avatar 3. Does SpongeBob stand a chance? I predict this one will move again. Who takes on Avatar?
With the SAG strike still dragging on, expect Disney and Paramount to be just the first studios to announce changes to their lineups. It’s pretty much a given that all of the studios are going to be forced to follow suit in the coming weeks.
