Blockbuster shuffle: A Quiet Place Part II delayed; Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel slings to 2021

It’s now all but official that the next big blockbuster season is still a long way off. Paramount has just shifted a raft of release dates for its lineup of big movies, reportedly finding a place for A Quiet Place Part II in next spring's calendar, after initially delaying the horror film's release indefinitely.

Delaying the hugely anticipated next chapter in the John Krasinski-created world of sound-activated monsters comes at the same time that Sony revealed new plans for its friendly Spider-Man neighborhood in the Marvel movie-verse. Seeing a box-office void left by Disney’s delay of Avatar 2, Sony has rescheduled the release of the sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home from Nov. 5 to Dec. 17 of next year, according to Deadline.

Variety reports that Paramount’s schedule shift will affect not just A Quiet Place Part II, but its full slate of hopeful future blockbusters. In addition to moving Part II to a new April 23, 2021, release date, Paramount also has rescheduled the planned sequel to this year’s surprise hit Sonic the Hedgehog to April 8, 2022. Top Gun: Maverick has flown from Dec. 23 to July 2 of next year, while The Tiger’s Apprentice will have to wait until Feb. 10 of 2023 — a year beyond its originally planned Feb. 2022 release.

Initially set to hit theaters on March 20, A Quiet Place Part II is among the long list of near-release movies that, like Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Disney’s live-action Mulan, have seen their new dates get bumped farther down the calendar as the coronavirus pandemic progresses well into the summer blockbuster season. The sequel puts Emily Blunt’s Evelyn Abbott in charge of the family that husband Lee (Krasinski) sacrificed himself to save in the original, which went on to rake in $340 million at the global box office.

Less is known about Spidey’s next adventure for Sony, but there’s definitely a ton of expectation riding on the sequel: Spider-Man: Far From Home was one of 2019’s most successful films, catching more than $1.1 billion at the global box office in its web.