Disney postpones 'Mulan' release indefinitely
Disney announced Thursday (July 23) it's postponed the highly-anticipated release of 'Mulan' -- indefinitely -- the last of the summer's blockbusters to be pushed back.
That deals a fresh new blow to movie theater operators, who were counting on the live-action epic to attract audiences amid the global health crisis.
The next installments of two of Disney's biggest franchises, 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars,' will also be delayed by a year as the crisis continues wreaking havoc on film production.
The delay of 'Avatar 2,' the follow-up to the second-highest grossing film of all time, removes one of next year's biggest movies.
'Mulan,' initially scheduled to be released in March of this year, has been postponed several times over as most U.S. cinemas remain closed.
It had most recently been delayed until August 21.
But the 'Mulan' delay follows Warner Brothers' decision to postpone the August release of Christopher Nolan's thriller 'Tenet.'
Both were expected to be theater operators' last chance at salvaging the lucrative summer season.
But with scores of film delays and theaters being far from reopening as the health crisis resurges in the U.S., that's looking more and more unlikely.
Major theater chains AMC and Cineworld announced Thursday they would be pushing back the July reopening of their U.S. locations to mid-August at the earliest.
