Disney is moving 20th Century Studios’ prequel The King’s Man from Sept. 18 to Feb. 26, 2021.
Now the sheer news of this is apt to spring alarm from exhibition, especially in the wake of Mulan heading to Disney+ over Labor Day weekend, however, I hear that Disney remains focused on the long game for theatrical. They’re excited about this movie, and they need the coasts open, specifically Los Angeles and New York, in order to make this Matthew Vaughn directed, produced, and co-written movie an event-success.
Something else to factor in about the fall box office: Once, New York, LA and San Francisco open, they’ll want Warner Bros.’ Tenet, and that will consume a majority of screens.
The King’s Man was set to hit tracking today, however, anticipating a release date move, no promo spots were purchased by the studio.
Through two movies, the Kingsman franchise has grossed $825.2M. This next movie, starring Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Bruhl, Stanley Tucci, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Djimon Hounsou, could feasibly take the series past $1 billion.
The nation’s exhibition infrastructure isn’t entirely open yet with New Jersey, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and California still closed, in addition to metro hubs like Seattle, Miami, Philadelphia and Portland. Nonetheless, Disney is taking 20th’s long-delayed The New Mutants as wide as they can in 2,400 theaters, which should give the Josh Boone-directed feature a $8M-$10M No. 1 win, that is if Hurricane Laura doesn’t damper those figures further. Current polling indicates that around 40% of all moviegoers are comfortable with returning to theaters immediately.
Disney also has Searchlight’s The Personal History of David Copperfield in 1,350 theaters, which is hoping to bank $700K-$900K. That movie is giving arthouses around the country another lease on life, but it’s also playing the multiplexes as well.
Originally, The King’s Man was set to open in Feb. 14 of this year, before moving to Sept. 18.