Godzilla vs. Kong Possibly Delayed Until 2021

Godzilla vs. Kong, currently scheduled to open in theaters November 20, could be delayed until May 2021, taking the release date held by The Matrix 4. Studio Warner Bros. already pushed musical In the Heights back from June 2020 to next year before shifting summer tentpole The Batman from June to October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has made for a crowded November 2020: Disney will open Marvel Studios’ Black Widow and Pixar’s Soul in November after moving those tentpoles out of May and June, respectively, both followed by No Time to Die. Universal Pictures shifted the release of the James Bond sequel from April to November 25, days after the currently held opening of Warner’s MonsterVerse sequel.

Behind-the-scenes book The Art of Godzilla vs. Kong, previously set for a November 17 release to coincide with the film’s November 20 opening, will now release May 21, according to the publisher’s listing on Amazon. The delayed release date of the artbook was first spotted by a user on Reddit.

Filming on the Keanu Reeves-starring Matrix 4 was halted in mid-March and is expected to resume in the first week of July. If the months-long filming delay on Matrix and a now overcrowded November pushes Godzilla vs. Kong out of November and into May 2021, the monster movie will come two weeks after a new Marvel property — Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, currently dated May 7 — and will open opposite horror-thriller Spiral, a new chapter in the Saw franchise.

The next major Warner’s release, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, could be pushed back some four weeks if 80% of the world’s theaters haven’t resumed operations by this July 17, according to a recent report from Deadline. This would shift Tenet to the August 14 date held by Wonder Woman 1984, pushing the superhero sequel to December and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune into 2021.

If Warner Bros.’ schedule moves forward untouched, In the Heights opens June 18, 2021, ahead of LeBron James’ Space Jam: A New Legacy (July 16), the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad (August 6) and director Matt Reeves’ The Batman (October 1).

Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash on the big screen in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans’ very origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.

Directed by Adam Wingard and starring Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, Kyle Chandler, Jessica Henwick, Zhang Ziyi, Julian Dennison, and Millie Bobby Brown, Godzilla vs. Kong is currently scheduled to open November 20.