(Adds details on release dates, other 2021 films)
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Paramount Pictures has
postponed the release of Tom Cruise films "Top Gun: Maverick"
until May 2022 and "Mission: Impossible 7" until September 2022,
a spokesman for the ViacomCBS Inc studio said
Wednesday, as COVID-19 infections rise.
The "Top Gun" sequel, which has been delayed multiple times
during the pandemic, had been set to debut in theaters on Nov.
19, just ahead of Thanksgiving, to kick off the holiday
moviegoing season.
"Top Gun" will now debut on May 27, the date that "M:I 7"
had been set to light up screens over next year's Memorial Day
weekend. That forced a shift for "M:I 7," which was moved to
Sept. 30, 2022.
Movie studios have repeatedly shuffled their schedules as
they try to gauge when crowds will return to cinemas. The Delta
variant of the coronavirus has disrupted a hoped-for comeback. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/delta-variant-disrupts-hollywoods-box-office-comeback-2021-08-24
Theater chains, including AMC Entertainment,
Cineworld Plc and Cinemark Holdings, are
counting on blockbusters such as "Top Gun" to help lure
audiences back. The movie is a follow-up to the 1986 hit
starring Cruise as an elite U.S. Navy fighter pilot.
Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co,
called Paramount's decision on "Top Gun" a "smart move."
"Paramount needs this to be a big worldwide hit. Global
marketplace just isn't there yet," Bock wrote on Twitter.
Theater operators hope other big-budget films will cling to
their 2021 schedules. James Bond movie "No Time to Die" is
currently set for release in cinemas on Oct. 8, and studio MGM
has insisted that date will stick.
Other upcoming films include Sony's "Venom: Let There Be
Carnage" in October, Marvel's "Eternals" in November and
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" in December.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)