Lionsgate has become just the latest movie studio to delay some of its upcoming movies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hollywood studio has confirmed a delay for the Saw spin-off, Spiral, from Chris Rock. It’s also delaying the mystery-thriller Antebellum starring Janelle Monae and the horror-thriller Run featuring Sarah Paulson. This news comes from Collider.
These were very last-minute delays. Antebellum was due for release on April 24, with Run following on May and Spiral set to premiere on May 15.
The postponement of these films follow delays for a number of other high-profile movies, including Black Widow, No Time to Die, Mulan, F9, and A Quiet Place 2, among others.
Film studios are delaying movies in response to the recommendations–or orders, in some cases–that gatherings of large groups of people are not to go forward. Some movie theatre chains have closed entirely due to the outbreak.
Some movies studios are attempting to mitigate their box office losses by putting new releases on home video platforms. Universal, for example, is releasing some of its new movies on home video the same day they were due to hit theatres. For its part, Disney launched Frozen II and The Rise of Skywalker on home video ahead of time, while Warner Bros. moved up the video-on-demand release date for Birds of Prey.