Paramount Pushes 'A Quiet Place II' And 'Top Gun: Maverick' To 2021, Sets Dates For 'Sonic The Hedgehog 2' And More
Now that Warner Bros. Pictures has pushed Tenet back to an unknown release date, Paramount Pictures is delaying some of their biggest movies scheduled for release later this year and bumping them back into 2021.
A Quiet Place Part II and Top Gun: Maverick, two anticipated sequels that would have already been in theaters by now but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down movie theaters, are both being delayed until next year. That's also resulted in a shift for the return of the Jackass franchise. Paramount has also beefed up their schedule for the next couple years with dates for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the animated movies Under the Boardwalk and The Tiger's Apprentice.
Originally slated to open this past spring, Paramount pushed A Quiet Place Part II to Labor Day weekend, thinking that the spread of COVID-19 would have been squashed by then. Oh, how naive we all were. Since it looks increasingly likely that movie theaters won't be open in the largest markets of the United States by the time September rolls around, Paramount has shifted the sequel to spring again with a new release date of April 23, 2021. That will put it up against the video game adaptation Monster Hunter, Lionsgate's The Asset, 20th Century Studios' Ron's Gone Wrong, and Edgar Wright feature Last Night in Soho.
As for Top Gun: Maverick, that sequel wassn't slated to arrive in theaters until December 23 this year, after originally being set for release earlier this month. Now the movie has headed back to summer with a new release date of July 2, 2021. That kind of shift makes me think that the recent prediction about movie theaters potentially not reopening until 2021 might be more accurate than we thought. With that new July date, the Top Gun sequel currently only has to contend with the delayed Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Top Gun being pushed to July 2 means the revival of the Jackass franchise has to vacate that date. The immature stunt comedy film series based on the MTV show of the same name will now arrive next fall on September 3, 2021. That's probably a safer bet for Jackass since the franchise has been out of the limelight for 10 years, and there's no guarantee that any nostalgia will translate to a successful blockbuster summer. So being released in the fall when there's less competition sounds like a better idea.
Meanwhile, Paramount has also given a release date to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on April 8, 2022. And their family friendly programming continues with an animated movie called Under the Boardwalk scheduled for July 22, 2022, and the animated adaptation of The Tiger's Apprentice starring Crazy Rich Asians heartthrob Henry Golding slated for February 10, 2023.