The coronavirus pandemic continues to raise hurdles for the entertainment industry as release dates for a number of the year’s most anticipated films have been delayed again.
Locally, release dates rarely exactly coincide with those in the US. Sometimes films land in UAE cinemas later than expected. Other times, we get the films earlier than most.
This includes the live-action remake to Disney's 1998 animated classic, Mulan.
The film was initially set to hit theatres worldwide in March, but was postponed until Friday, July 24, after cinemas around the world were forced to close amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Earlier this week, that date was pushed back further, with a US release date set for Friday, August 21.
However, it seems we'll be getting the Mulan remake one day earlier.
According to a schedule obtained from Italia Film, the distributors for Disney films in the Middle East, Mulan will be releasing in the UAE on Thursday, August 20.
The $200 million (Dh734.6m) Mulan remake – which stars Liu Yifei in the title role – will be presented in standard 2D cinemas, as well as 3D, 4D, IMAX and Dolby Vision theatres.
Another film that has had a change of release dates is Unhinged. The thriller stars Russell Crowe and shows what happens when road rage goes too far. Simply billed as The Man, Crowe takes on the role of a stranger who begins stalking and tormenting a single mother after the two confront each other at a red light.
The film was slated to hit UAE cinemas on Thursday, July 9. However, the release date to the road-rage thriller was pushed back by a few weeks, it is now expected to land in local theatres on Thursday, July 30.
The Iron Mask, a Russian-Chinese fantasy film that was previously called Viy 2: Journey to China, is now scheduled for a Thursday, August 6, release. The film is a sequel to the 2014 hit Viy, which is loosely based on the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name.
The sequel is set in the 18th century and continues to follow the adventures of cartographer Jonathan Green as he embarks on a supernatural and scientific journey from England to China. The film stars Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Outpost, which stars Orlando Bloom and Scott Eastwood, will now hit UAE cinemas on Thursday, August 13.
The film is based on a 2012 non-fiction book, The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper. The film tells the story of the 53 US soldiers who battled a Taliban force of 400 in north-eastern Afghanistan.
Christopher Nolan's thriller Tenet has also had its US release date pushed back to Wednesday, August 12. However, for now it seems that its UAE release date on Thursday, July 30, remains unchanged.
All movie release dates are subject to change.
