Sony Shakes Up Schedule Amid Hollywood Strikes With Big Changes For Spider-Verse and Ghostbusters Sequels and More

No one, no movie is safe from the Hollywood strikes, including Spider-Man, the Ghostbusters or even Kraven the Hunter. Films of all genres and their intended release dates continue to fall by the wayside as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes lumber along. And, as a result, Sony Pictures have decided to make some drastic changes to their intended theatrical windows for a number of highly anticipated titles.

One of the most devastating blows comes in the form of a delay to Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The intended sequel to this summer’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was slated to open on March 29, 2024, but it has been dropped from Sony’s upcoming release calendar altogether (per Variety) thanks to SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike. And it could be weeks before the third installment in the Miles Morales’ series gets a new release date as Sony seem to be weighing up how long the stikes will continue before giving the threequel another date.

Meanwhile, two other high-profile Columbia Pictures’ projects have landed brand-new release dates. The upcoming Bad Boys for Life sequel will now open in theaters on June, 14, 2024, and Venom 3 will drop on July 12, 2024.

Related: Dune: Part Two, Aquaman 2 & More Eyeing Delays Amid Ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike

Victims of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes Mount

Sony Pictures Releasing

In the short term, Sony Pictures’ Gran Turismo is the next film that will have to downshift to account for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA protests. The movie, which is based on the Sony PlayStation’s video game series, has been backed up to August 25. Sneak peeks will drop on the weekends of August 11 and 18, but actors won’t be promoting the racing movie because of the strikes and Sony will be hoping for good word of mouth from audiences to do the promotion for them.

The sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife was supposed to hit theaters just in time for Christmas this year on December 20, but fans of the franchise will have to wait until March 29, 2024 and celebrate the return of their favorite spook hunters over Easter weekend instead. Kraven the Hunter also gets bumped from October 2023 and will now open on August 30, 2024. The Karate Kid movie, which has nothing to do with Cobra Kai, will move from June 7, 2024 all the way to December 13 of the same year. Sony Pictures Releasing and Blumhouse’s They Listen is also left to wonder when it will be heard after losing its August 30, 2024 release date.

One Spider-Man Universe spin-off actually got some good news during all the calendar carnage. The Dakota Johnson-led Madame Web is still slated to hit cinemas for Valentine’s Day weekend next year, but the Marvel-ous news is this Sony project will now open on Wednesday, February 14 rather than Friday the 16. Sadly, since there is no end in sight to the Hollywood strikes, cinephiles should prepare themselves for further delays from other big studios in the near future.

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