Welcome to another Cairns on Cinema column, in which I depress the audience again with news of the latest delays.
I wish I were kidding. There continues to be little letup in the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the vaccine rollout has yet to truly kick in and reduce the cases significantly. That means it is status quo as far as cinema restrictions are concerned, with reduced attendances and closures all over the world. As a result, we have word that some more major releases are being pushed back.
The biggest news is that the latest James Bond movie No Time to Die has been pushed back yet again. It had been scheduled to go last year, and then was pushed back to this April, but now MGM has pushed it back again to a fall release, on Oct. 8, 2021.
This is the right decision. No Time to Die was not going to make good money with an April release, but it should do a much better gross in the fall when things ought to be back to normal 鈥� for real this time, we hope. I don鈥檛 expect James Bond to be moved again. This release date should stick, given what we have heard about how everyone should be able to get a vaccine by the end of this summer.
With the move of No Time to Die, the website /Film reports there is a domino effect, with the Ghostbusters sequel being pushed back five months to Nov. 11 and the thriller Last Night in Soho pushed back to Oct. 22.
We have received some updated information about the schedule of releases from Hollywood for the upcoming three months, and so I will provide that to you right now:
The Little Things(Warner Bros.) is still on for聽Jan 29.
Cinderella (Song), originally set for聽Feb 5聽has been moved to聽July 16, 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) is scheduled for聽Feb. 12.
Land(Focus Features) is scheduled for limited release聽Feb. 12.
Nobody (Universal) is a go for聽Feb. 26.
United States vs Billie Holiday(Paramount) scheduled for聽Feb. 26聽has been removed from the release schedule.
Tom & Jerry(Warner Bros.) is set for聽Feb. 26.
Boogie(Focus Features) is set for limited release聽March 5.
Chaos Walking The Knife of Never Letting Go(E1 Entertainment) is set for聽Mar 5.
Raya and the Last Dragon(Disney) is a go for聽March 5.
The King鈥檚 Man(Disney) was set for聽March 12聽but has now moved back to聽Aug. 20.
The Many Saints of Newark(Warner Bros.) originally set for聽March 12聽has been removed from the release schedule.
Morbius(Sony) set for聽March 19聽has been pushed back to next January, 2022.
Nomadland(Fox Searchlight) was set for limited release聽Feb. 19聽but has been moved to聽March 19.
This is just a general release schedule. These dates are not confirmed yet for the Capitol Theatre, so keep on checking dates and times for when these might show up here. (Be forewarned there could be more unexpected postponements 鈥� such is life in the time of COVID-19.)
Now, I want to talk about Tom & Jerry.
This is being described as a live-action/animated hybrid featuring the long awaited return of the cat and mouse to the movie screens. What raised my eyebrows is that this is being released by Warner Bros., which makes absolutely no sense because I thought Tom and Jerry were 鈥淢GM.鈥�
In fact, they were arch-rivals with Warner Bros. for years. The cat and mouse were the biggest stars from the MGM cartoon studio in the forties and fifties, and were in direct competition with Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for audiences and for Academy Awards (which they won). The Tom and Jerry cartoons were directed by Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who went on to form Hanna-Barbera Productions which produced a large portion of your favourite Saturday morning TV shows.
Just to make things more confusing, after MGM parted ways with Hanna and Barbera, they later brought in Chuck Jones to direct their Tom and Jerry cartoons, after Jones had made his name with Warners doing Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner!
As well, Warner Bros acquired Hanna-Barbera a number of years ago, which means Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo are now Warner Bros. cartoons 鈥� the same as Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. And Tom and Jerry are now Warners cartoons, too.
Maybe it does make sense for Warners to team up with Tom and Jerry after all, given this history. I have no idea how WarnerMedia ended up getting the rights to the characters from MGM, but it happened a number of years ago.
It begs the question: who are the next cartoon characters to be taken over by Warner Bros.? Woody Woodpecker? Heckle and Jeckle? Popeye the Sailor Man?
Wait a minute. A quick check of Wikipedia confirms that Warner Bros. indeed has the rights to Popeye the Sailor Man.
It figures!聽
Mainly, I find these WB rights acquisitions amusing. If the WB is able to take over Tom and Jerry (MGM) as well as Popeye the Sailor Man (Paramount), then no one is safe!
That鈥檚 all I have to say for聽today.
