Paramount Moves Up ‘Snake Eyes,’ Delays ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘M:I 7’
The coronavirus isn’t done messing up the movie release calendar just yet. Domestic movie theaters are mostly back open, but Covid-19 still a huge problem around the world, particularly in Europe, where the continent’s vaccination campaign has proceed far more slowly than in the United States. With many international theaters still closed, that means a global hit in the making like Top Gun: Maverick isn’t going to fly (sorry) for a while longer. Already pushed back multiple times — it was first scheduled for release on July 12, 2019 — the Tom Cruise-starring Top Gun sequel will now open in theaters on November 19, 2021 instead of on July 2.
November 19 was supposed to be the release date for Mission: Impossible 7. Instead, it will now open on Memorial Day weekend next year, May 27, 2022. Mission: Impossible 8 also moves back a bit, from November 4, 2022 to July 7, 2023. The two Missions were shot back-to-back by director Christopher McQuarrie, who previously directed Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and Fallout. (McQuarrie also had a hand in the Top Gun: Maverick screenplay. He and Cruise work together a lot.)
It’s not all bad news, though; Paramount is also moving up one of its big 2021 releases. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, about the silent ninja member of the team of toy soldiers, will now open on July 23. The film, which stars Henry Golding as Snake Eyes, was previously scheduled to premiere on October 22. And with the July 4 weekend this summer now a lot less competitive without Top Gun, Universal has pushed up the next Purge film, The Forever Purge. It will now open on July 2. Hopefully we get to a point some day soon where the release calendar isn’t in a constant state of flux. That would be an indication that the world is getting back to normal – and wouldn’t that be nice?
Gallery — DVDs and Blu-rays That Are Still Really Valuable: