Major Sony release date changes here, a bulk of them due to the actors strike.
Let’s start with the good news: The Culver City lot is dating Bad Boys 4, which recently wrapped production for Fathers’ Day weekend, June 14, 2024. It’s going up against Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2. Through three movies, the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence cop series counts over $841M worldwide.
Sony is also dating Venom 3 for July 12, 2024. Sony always had that date on reserve, and it’s up against a New Line horror movie. Through two movies, the Venom movies have grossed $1.36 billion.
Now for the bad news which is impacting the Q3 and Q4 schedules due to the SAG-AFTRA strike:
—Gran Turismo, originally dated for Aug. 11, is now going to sneak preview over that weekend and Aug. 18, officially opening on Aug. 25 wide. Said a Sony spokesperson on the unique last minute, promo shift, “The stars can’t promote the film, but the audience can.”
–Sony/Marvel’s Madame Web goes a little earlier on Valentine’s Day, Wednesday Feb. 14, instead of Feb. 16 next year.
–Sony/Marvel property, Kraven the Hunter, originally set for Oct. 6, is now moving all the way to Aug. 30, 2024, Labor Day weekend. The studio needs to blast this one out on a global tour and Aaron Taylor Johnson need to be in the mix for this frosh franchise. What’s left on Oct. 6? An untitled Focus Features movie and the limited launch of Apple Original Films and Paramount’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Kraven the Hunter currently sits alone on Labor Day weekend, a place where Disney/Marvel posted a record opening for the 4-day holiday with Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($94.6M).
–The Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel, though finished shooting, still needs actors, I hear, in the post phase. It’s not opening on Dec. 20 this year, rather Easter weekend, March 29, 2024. Pic is up against Warner Bros. Mickey 17 from Bong Joon Ho.
—Ghostbusters knocks Spider-Man: Beyond the Spiderverse off its Easter weekend date to TBD (Sorry fanboys). That pic requires a number of voiceovers and won’t be ready in time. Currently, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the highest grossing movie of the summer with $377M stateside.
—The Karate Kid reboot set for June 7, 2024 heads to Dec. 13, 2024. That leaves Lionsgate’s Ballerina and New Line’s The Watchers alone on the summer date. Karate Kid sits alone currently on its new date, a place where Sony has had great luck with four-quad family pics, specifically the Jumanji franchise.
–Blumhouse’s They Listen dated for Aug. 30, 2024 is now temporarily undated.