By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The Walt Disney Co. has further postponed its next mega-movies from Marvel, including "Black Widow," while also postponing Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" a full year in the company's latest recalibration due to the pandemic.
Ten of Disney's top films shuffled release dates Wednesday, uprooting several of the company's major fall releases. The Scarlett Johansson Marvel movie "Black Widow," last set for Nov. 6, heads to May 7 of next year. Instead of opening next month, Kenneth Branagh's murder mystery "Death on the Nile" moves to Dec. 18. That was the date set for "West Side Story," but Spielberg's musical will instead debut in December 2021.
Disney didn't entirely abandon the season. The Pixar release "Soul" remains on the calendar for late November. "The Empty Man," a horror release from the former 20th Century Fox, is moving up from December to Oct. 23.
But the delays of Disney's upcoming blockbusters reinforce the growing exodus from 2020 among the blockbusters that hadn't already uprooted to next year. Following tepid ticket sales for Warner Bros.' "Tenet" in a U.S. theatrical marketplace where about 30% of cinemas remain closed, Warner Bros.' "Wonder Woman 1984" moved from October to Christmas and Universal Pictures' "Candyman" postponed to next year.
Given the interconnected nature of Marvel releases, the latest delay of "Black Widow" had a domino effect on other films. Destin Daniel Cretton's "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," starring Simu Liu as the martial arts hero, is now slated for July 9, 2021, instead of May 7. Chloé Zhao "Eternals," with Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan and Kumail Nanjiani, moves from February to Nov. 5, 2021.
"Marvel made the right and responsible decision," Nanjiani said on Twitter. "There's a pandemic. Nothing is more important than health and lives. I can't tell people to go to a movie theater until I feel safe going to one."
The Ben Affleck-Ana de Armas thriller "Deep Water" was also pushed from November until August next year.
Notably, Disney didn't announce any films were pivoting to its streaming platform, Disney+. Since the pandemic began, the company's "Mulan," "Hamilton" and "Artemis Fowl" have gone direct to streaming, with "Mulan" made available for a $30 premium purchase by subscribers. Disney has declined to share digital grosses for "Mulan," though the live-action remake has underperformed in theaters overseas.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More