In a move that everyone in the world was expecting, Disney has officially pulled Free Guy and Death on the Nile from their December release slate. Right now, that leaves only Wonder Woman 1984 and the ever-stubborn Croods 2: A New Age on the theatrical calendar for 2020. Croods is slated for Thanksgiving, while Wonder Woman is set for a Christmas release date.
Nothing new has changed in the US (outside of Tenet choosing to release on VOD) since Regal Cinemas shuddered all of its theaters last month, but the pull of these two films is exactly because of that, not in spite of it. Every film executive has been holding out hope that something would shift in North America that would lead to a miraculous re-opening, or people becoming comfortable with returning to the theaters whose doors are open. That just hasn't been the case.
Free Guy was set to release December 11th, while Death on the Nile was poised for December 18th. But with the situation in America remaining stagnant, and Western Europe (smartly) entering Lockdown Part 2, there's simply nowhere for the films to go.
This comes as another blow to AMC Theaters, who remains open but saw abysmal returns in Q3 and already had little hope for Q4 success. Consumers can likely expect news on their second round of closures in the coming weeks. Paying rent is already near impossible, keeping the lights on for no tenants is even worse.
There is currently no news on where Free Guy and Death on the Nile will shift to. Given the cost of both films, (the former due to effects and the ladder because of an incredibly stacked all-star cast) it's unlikely we'll see either head to streaming anytime soon. Neither one of them are quite Disney+ fare, though it's always possible we see The Mouse give the PVOD model a run on Hulu.
