Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the ’80s classic Top Gun starring Tom Cruise, will now premiere on November 19th, according to Deadline. It was previously slated to open on July 2nd — which itself was a delay from December 23rd, 2020.
Maverick’s delay is the latest shift in this summer’s movie slate, which, like last summer’s, has been impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney delayed Black Widow from a May release date to July 9th and is also opting to make it available as a $30 Disney Plus Premier Access title the same day. The company also made Pixar’s Luca a Disney Plus exclusive and said Cruella will be a Disney Plus Premier Access release when it hits theaters on May 28th. MGM delayed No Time to Die, the next James Bond movie, from April 2nd to October 8th.
Universal Pictures also shifted the highly anticipated F9 from Memorial Day weekend to June 25th, which would make it the first major blockbuster to exclusively release in theaters since Christopher Nolan’s Tenet last fall — assuming Universal doesn’t follow its competition and delay the upcoming Fast & Furious film again.
The Top Gun sequel’s delay has cascading effects on the rest of Paramount Pictures’ movie lineup. Two other movies starring Cruise have been bumped: Mission: Impossible 7 is now debuting on May 27th, 2022, instead of this November, while Mission: Impossible 8 has moved from a November 2022 release to July 7th, 2023, according to Deadline. Dungeons and Dragons has also been delayed, moving to a March 3rd, 2023, debut. Paramount’s announcement also referenced an as-yet unrevealed Star Trek film — which io9 reports is a secret, J.J. Abrams-produced project — set to hit theaters on June 9th, 2023.
