Paramount has announced that Top Gun: Maverick will not be released on Thanksgiving. Instead, the film will arrive in theaters on May 27, 2022. As a result, Mission: Impossible 7 will be released on September 30, 2022 instead of May 27 as originally scheduled. Rounding out its list of announcements, Paramount has also announced that Jackass Forever will be released on February 4, 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released on October 22, 2021.
According to Deadline, Paramount shifted films in 2022 due to uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. As the delta variant continues to spread throughout the United States, hospitalizations continue to rise. Earlier today, Kentucky and Alaska recorded more hospitalizations than they had at any point during the pandemic. By the end of September, ABC reports that daily hospitalizations could rise by 22,000 per day.
Despite rising COVID-19 hospitalizations, more people are seemingly going to the theaters. Last weekend, Candyman earned nearly $23 million at the box office, exceeding projections by nearly 50%. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if big movies can still attract viewers during a deadly pandemic.
