Sony Delays 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife,' 'Morbius,' And 'Uncharted' To 2021 Amid Coronavirus Concerns

As the question of how long the coronavirus pandemic will affect the entertainment industry remains unanswered, Sony Pictures is not taking any chances. Sony pushed back its major tentpole movies —including Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the ever-cursed Uncharted, and the already-delayed Peter Rabbit 2 — to next year.

Variety reports that Sony has drastically pushed back its entire 2020 and 2021 slate amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic won't ease up by the time the summer movie season starts this year.

Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, has moved moved from July 10, 2020, to March 5, 2021, while Jared Let's Spider-Man-adjacent comic book movie Morbius has been delayed from July 31, 2020 to March 19, 2021. The Tom Holland-led Uncharted is no stranger to delays, and this is just the latest pushback that suggests we'll never see the video game adaptation, as the film goes from its March 5, 2021 slot to October 8, 2021. Meanwhile, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, which was one of the first films to be delayed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, has now been pushed back from August 7 to January 15, 2021. An untitled Sony/Marvel movie has also been delayed indefinitely from its original October 8, 2021 date.

Sony has moved virtually every one of its major titles out of 2020, with the exception of the Kevin Hart drama Fatherhood, which was actually pushed up to October 23, 2020. The Tom Hanks World War II drama Greyhound, which was set to open this June, has been delayed indefinitely.

This schedule reshuffling marks the biggest changes by a major studio since the coronavirus pandemic reached U.S. shores, shutting down businesses and shuttering movie theaters across the country. When lockdowns commenced, many in the entertainment industry hoped that the coronavirus pandemic could be curbed by the time the summer movie season commenced, but Sony's release date delays suggests studios are starting to think otherwise. It's only a matter of time before other studios follow suit and delay their major tentpole releases set for the summer, like Wonder Woman 1984 — which has already been postponed to August from its original June date — for 2021 releases.

Our holiday blockbuster season could look entirely different as well, with major films like Warner Bros.' Dune possibly getting pushed to next year while the studio likely gives Christopher Nolan's Tenet a November release. It's all uncertain what the summer movie season will look like — if there even is a summer movie season — as the coronavirus crisis wears on.

Here is the full schedule of Sony's release date changes:

  • Greyhound – TBD (from 6/12/2020)
  • Fatherhood  – 10/23/2020 (from 1/15/2021)
  • Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway  – 1/15/2021 (from 08/07/2020)
  • Ghostbusters: Afterlife – 03/05/2021 (from 07/10/2020)
  • Sony/Marvel Morbius – 03/19/2021 (from 07/31/2020)
  • Uncharted – 10/8/2021 (from 03/05/2021)
  • Untitled Sony Marvel – TBD (from 10/08/2021)