Sony's Morbius Pulled From Release in Russia

Yet another major studio is joining the theatrical exodus from Russia. Following the country's invasion of Ukraine, film studios have been pulling their major releases from Russia, and Sony is the latest company to follow suit. Sony Pictures has opted to pause all of its upcoming planned theatrical releases in Russia moving forward. That theatrical pause begins at the start of April with the release of Morbius, the new Marvel film starring Jared Leto.

"Given the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be pausing our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius," a spokesperson from Sony said on Monday night. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly."

Monday saw multiple studios take action in regards to the Russian box office. Disney halted all theatrical releases in the country. Warner Bros. followed suit by shelving the Russian debut of The Batman, which hits theaters in the U.S. this weekend. Now, Sony has followed suit.

Disney doesn't have a theatrical release in the United States until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May. That's not the case in other countries, as Turning Red is scheduled for a theatrical release in many markets, despite its move to Disney+ in others.

"Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning Red from Pixar," Disney said in a statement. "We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation. In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees."

Jared Leto stars in Sony's Morbius alongside Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, and Tyrese Gibson. The film is directed by Daniel Espinosa with a script from Matt Sazam and Burk Sharpless.

Morbius is still scheduled to hit theaters in North America on April 1st.