Paramount postponed its 2021 film plans, delaying the release date of "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" from thanksgiving weekend to May 27, 2022 — nearly three years after the first announcement of its release, according to foreign media reports. Jackass Forever will also be released on February 4, 2022, instead of the original October 22, 2021.
In addition, since Top Gun: Lone Ranger will be released in May 2022, Mission Impossible 7 will also be postponed again: now it will be released on September 30, 2022.
That's because of concerns that the DELTA variant of COVID-19 is causing a surge in patients. Paramount allegedly risked releasing relatively sluggish blockbusters like the "Top Gun" sequel, but would rather put everything off in the hope that things would continue to improve in 2022. For the same reason, Paramount doesn't just move movies to its paramount plus streaming service — it's too much money at stake.
Previously, Paramount Pictures postponed the release date of the live-action movie "Clifford the Big Red Dog", which was released on September 17 due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The company has yet to announce a new release date for the film.
Finally, Warner Bros. still has some of its hottest movies released at the end of 2021: Dune (released October 22) and The Matrix: Resurrections (released on December 22). However, unlike the films mentioned earlier, these films will not be exclusive to the theater. Due to Warner Media's unique 2021 release strategy, they will be broadcast on HBO MAX on the same day as their theater premiere.