Coronavirus: Mulan, New Mutants, Quiet Place 2, Fast and Furious 9 delayed as Hollywood suffers

Two more films have been delayed.
Two more films have been delayed. Photo credit: File.

Hollywood is not immune to the coronavirus COVID-19 ravaging the world economy, with four more high-profile films delaying their release.

Earlier this months, MGM and Universal announced that the latest James Bond film No Time To Die would not be released in its original April slot, but instead in November. That decision came after an "evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace", likely influenced by the coronavirus.

Since then, the impact of the illness has only got worse. Countries across Europe have shut down theatres, banned mass gatherings and in some cases, including in Italy, restricted people's movement. That's caused unprecedented damage to the world economy, with stock markets tanking.

With the worldwide box office up-in-the-air, Paramount's A Quiet Place 2, meant for release on March 20, has been delayed. No new release date has been announced. 

"One of the things I'm most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together. Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what's going on in the world around us, now is clearly not the right time to do that," director John Krasinski said in a statement. 

"As insanely excited as we are for all of you to see this movie... I'm gonna wait to release the film til we CAN all see it together! See you soon!"

Universal's Fast and Furious 9 film has also been postponed from its May release. It will now open on April 2, 2021, when the tenth film in the franchise was meant to open.

Disney's Mulan and New Mutants have also been delayed without new release dates. Mulan was meant to come out at the end of March and New Mutants at the start of April.

At the start of March, before many European theatres shut, some analysts suggested up to $5 billion could be lost across the global box office. 

To put into perspective the potential financial risk of releasing a film in China at the moment, it's important to note the total ticket revenue in the country in the 20 days before February 12, which includes Chinese New Year, was US$3.9 million. That's compared to US$1.52 billion in the same period last year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The United States box office is also suffering. Pixar's Onward underperformed last weekend with a US$39 million domestic opening, which many blamed on the virus scaring people away.