The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shares dropped around 3% at Monday’s close with the news that all of the Marvel movies on the slate for 2022 have been delayed amid production logjam in the wake of the pandemic.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had been expected in late March but now slips to May, taking the spot from Thor: Love and Thunder which jumps to July thus pushing Black Panther Wakanda Forever out to November, in turn, spilling the Captain Marvel sequel over into 2023.
The scheduling dominos continues through 2023 also with the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie delayed into the summer from February.
Injury to seventy-nine year old Harrison Ford meanwhile led Disney to delay the new Indiana Jones movie by 11 months, to June 2023. Three movies – one Disney live-action and two Marvel movies – were also taken off the current 2023 schedule.
Fans have so far waited 12 years for a follow up to James Cameron (NYSE:CAM)’s 2009 hit Avatar and, presently, they won’t have an extra wait as Disney has retained its December 2022 release.
Disney stock dropped US$5.31 in Monday’s deals to close at US$171.14.
Franchise hits from Halloween and James Bond, meanwhile, boosted the immediate fortunes of cinema operators like AMC Entertainment on Monday, with the Reddit meme-stock up 5.6% at around US$43.