Disney sets new release dates for Mulan, Jungle Cruise, and Indiana Jones

With Disney’s spring blockbusters being delayed due to COVID-19, the studio has begun setting new release dates for the movies on its roster.

Disney was set to have a solid year at the box office in 2020, with both Black Widow and Mulan slated to come out this spring. Unfortunately, like many other blockbusters slated to hit theaters during this time, both films had to be pushed back due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. While they were initially delayed indefinitely, however, Disney has announced its new schedule — and given Mulan a new release date, which surprisingly isn’t that much later than its original one.

Although Mulan should have already been in theaters by now, it will now arrive on the big screen on July 24 — which, hopefully, won’t prove too soon with everything going on. Although AMC has announced intentions to open its theaters again in June, most officials — and companies — are playing it safe and waiting to see how the situation unfolds before making any plans prior to the fall. But if AMC’s hopes to reopen in June come true, Mulan’s July date will prove a perfect time for the film to come out.

Due to the shift in schedule, Disney also changed the release date for several other films on its roster. Jungle Cruise, which was supposed to arrive in theaters this year, has now been pushed to a July 30, 2021 release date. Meanwhile, Indiana Jones 5 has been moved to a July 29, 2022 release date — which means we’ll see the return of our favorite adventurer later than planned, but also enables Captain Marvel 2 to move up a few weeks.

Of course, all of Disney’s Marvel films have seen a ripple effect over the delay of Black Widow, which was given The Eternals‘ November 6 release date. As a result, each of Marvel’s Phase 4 films up until Thor: Love and Thunder has been pushed back several months. Fortunately, the franchise doesn’t seem to be affected beyond that.

It’s nice to see Disney setting tentative dates for when things could return to some semblance of normalcy. It’s still uncertain how this crisis will impact the studio’s Disney+ series that have currently halted production, though, and we’re still waiting on an update for The New Mutants. 

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.