It is a small world… After all
Earlier this week MGM made a rather lucid and universally hailed decision to postpone No Time to Die’s release. This was due to concerns about public safety after the Coronavirus outbreak in Asia, and the sporadic cases worldwide.
Despite MGM trying this hard stance and taking the financial loss/moral high ground, they seem to be alone. Disney and Universal apparently have zero plans to postpone Black Widow or Furious 9.
There were rumors in filmmaker circles that Disney was considering pushing Black Widow back to a November time slot. This move would have inevitably pushed The Eternals to a 2021 release and set everything back.
For better or for worse, Disney is not postponing Black Widow and is full steam ahead on all other releases. Following this news, Warner Bros has yet to adjust any of the release dates for its films, including Furious 9. The ninth film in the storied franchise is set to release in May.
Unfortunately this will inevitably draw some criticisms. It seems that MGM was aware of the fact that they needed to be out of the cross-hairs before this news came to light. Regardless of why MGM pulled out, it was the right decision.
Which leads to the morality of Disney, Universal and other’s choice to go ahead with the early Spring releases. With healthy organizations warning against coastal areas, large mingled crowds and close contact, this seems like a bad decision.
Time will tell if this decision has consequences or not.
