Paramount is delaying the release of ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ and ‘Mission: Impossible 7‘ once again, much to the disappointment of Tom Cruise fans around the world.
Top Gun was supposed to hit theaters on November 19, 2021, but it’s now been pushed back to May 27, 2022, which honestly makes more sense. Top Gun just feels more like a summer movie than a Thanksgiving flick.
Meanwhile, the latest Mission: Impossible won’t hit theaters until September 30, 2022. It was supposed to be released in May of 2022. These two films have been delayed several times. The studio knows they could have a huge box office haul for both, so they’re being extra careful with the release.
Thanks to the Delta variant, they now believe the best time for a major release will be in 2022. It’s a huge blow to cinemas, who thought they’d be somewhat back to normal by now.
Additionally, the studio also pushed back the release of Jackass Forever. It was scheduled to be released inside theaters on October 22, 2021, but it’s now been pushed back to February 4, 2022.
The latest release date shuffle, marking the first domino to fall in late 2021, comes as the country’s COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly persistent. That has resulted in a significant decline in consumer confidence in returning to the movies. According to research conducted by NRG, 67% of moviegoers say they are ‘very or somewhat comfortable’ visiting their local theater, which is down 11 points from July.
All we can do at this point is hope this is the last major wave. It’s hard to imagine another surge, because you’d think that most everyone would either be vaccinated or infected.
But at this point, no one knows. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come for the winter box office.