A24 Pulls Saint Maud From Planned Release Due to Coronavirus

The global coronavirus pandemic and ensuing movie theater closures has resulted in a number of major movies delaying their releases by months and even as much as a year, with A24 Films confirming that they were following suit and were pulling Saint Maud from its planned April 10th release date. The first major film to earn a long delay was the James Bond film No Time to Die, which was delayed from its April release until November. As a result of that delay, Saint Maud was pushed back a week from its original April 3rd release to April 10th, though now it has been pulled from the schedule indefinitely.

The debut film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient's soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.

Over the past decade, A24 has become one of the favorite film studios and distributors for genre fans, having delivered audiences films like Enemy, Green Room, Hereditary, and The Witch. Just knowing that Saint Maud came from A24 was enough to excite fans, with its original release strategy coinciding with screenings of some of the most iconic religious horror movies of all time at select AMC Theatres locations in the weeks leading up to its release, including The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Conjuring.

In hopes of slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, nearly all theaters across the country have temporarily closed as to prevent patrons from potentially coming into close contact with people infected with the virus. With no end to the pandemic currently in sight, it's unknown how long cinemas will be impacted by these closures.

To initially compensate for the closures, some studios have expedited the process of their films being available to rent On Demand. Films like The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Bloodshot, and Onward have been made available for rental at home, while bigger event films like A Quiet Place Part II and Spiral: From the Book of Saw have been delayed indefinitely. With the smaller scale of Saint Maud, we can't help but wonder if A24 might ultimately debut it On Demand without a theatrical release, as to allow as large an audience to see it as soon as possible.

Stay tuned for details on the release Saint Maud.

Are you hoping the film still gets a theatrical release? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!