Carnival of Soul

Going into 2020, Disney was planning to release Marvel Studios’ Black Widow and Pixar’s Soul during the summer movie season, meaning by now, both movies would either be available on home media or be close to coming out on physical and digital formats. Alas, the current health crisis complicated those plans, and now there’s word that both Black Widow and Soul’s releases could be changed again.

As things stand now, the plan is for Black Widow to come out on November 6 and Soul to follow on November 20. However, Variety reports that Disney “will likely delay” Black Widow’s theatrical release, and the studio is exploring releasing Soul straight to Disney+ instead. This brainstorming comes at a time when many movie theaters around the U.S. are reopening their doors, but still having trouble attracting audiences due to continued concerns about the pandemic.

This report about Black Widow and Soul also trickles in after several high profile delays were announced. Wonder Woman 1984, which was previously slated for October 2, will now come out on December 25 (which likely means that fellow Warner Bros movie Dune will be pushed back), while Universal Pictures’ Candyman is now coming out on a yet-to-be-revealed date in 2021 rather than on October 16. So assuming Black Widow and Soul’s releases are altered, that means that the next new, high profile movie to hit theaters will be No Time to Die on November 20.

Black Widow, which kicks off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4, was originally supposed to come out on May 1, but once this health crisis kicked up a few notches, it took Eternals’ original release date. So if Black Widow is moved into 2021, that will surely result in another sweeping change for the entire MCU slate, just like what happened back in April.

As for Soul, which was previously scheduled for needless to say it being sent straight to Disney+ would be a big deal, as it would be the first Pixar movie not to get a theatrical release. Even Onward managed to sit several days in theaters before they were closed and released digitally not long after, followed by its Disney+ launch a few weeks later.

Still, moving Soul to Disney+ isn’t an entirely unprecedented move. Disney did just that Artemis Fowl and Hamilton in the summer, and the Mouse House is also currently making the live-action Mulan remake available to Disney+ subscribers for an additional $30. But with Black Widow, it looks like Disney is firmly set on that still playing in theaters first, even if that means audiences will have to wait longer for it.

Set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow follows Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff on the run and confronting a dangerous conspiracy tied to her past as a Russian spy. Soul stars Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher who suffers an accident that sees his soul being separated from his body and ending up in The Great Before, where souls develop personalities, traits and quirks.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for the latest news regarding Black Widow and Soul’s release plans, and find out what other movies are on the way with our 2020 release schedule and 2021 release schedule.