In addition to being a global disaster in many ways that matter a good deal more, COVID took a wrecking ball to the film industry, and Hollywood is still cleaning up the debris. Countless films have been re-edited, delayed, and outright cancelled as a result of necessary COVID restrictions, illnesses, financial markets in upheaval, and an absence of audiences.
The pandemic is three years old, but your local megaplex is still feeling the impact, with this year’s global box office take coming in some 40% below pre-pandemic levels. This year, part of the problem had to doo with a lack of supply: Release dates for major tentpole blockbusters—your Aquamans, your Captains Marvel—have shifted so many times that we were left with long stretches, particularly in the fall, without enough new releases on offer to get people coming out to theaters again.
Will things finally normalize in 2023? Maybe. Here are 15 movies booted around the calendar by COVID-related delays, though sometimes only because other delayed films pushed them back on the release calendar, that are finally coming to theaters. Hopefully someone will show up to buy tickets.