Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming drama Joe Bell has been removed from the theatrical release calendar with plans for the film to be released later this year. According to Deadline, the Solstice Studios film was originally planned for a February 19th release for consideration in the 2020-2021 awards season. Per the report, the decision to shift Joe Bell‘s release until some point later in 2021 comes as a response to the continued box office struggles amidst the ongoing pandemic.
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Joe Bell is based on a true story and stars Wahlberg as the titular character, a small-town working-class father who goes on a solo walk across the United States as part of a crusade against bullying after is gay teen son, Jadin (Reid Miller), commits suicide after being tormented in high school for his sexuality. Joe makes his path across the country from Oregon to New York City with his message of tolerance from a father’s perspective, a message he hopes will reach those open to hearing said message from someone like themselves. The film also stars Connie Briton (American Horror Story), Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space), and Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Truman). The film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September where Solstice acquired rights to it for $20 million.
News of Joe Bell being pushed back comes on a day when there is a bit of promising news in terms of movie theaters, at least for AMC Theatres. The theater chain announced on Monday that it had acquired an additional $917 million in new equity and debt capital. This funding will reportedly allow AMC to continue functioning as is throughout most of 2021, taking bankruptcy off the table as an option, and hopefully allowing for a return to normalcy soon as COVID-19 vaccines roll out in the United States and other countries around the world.
“Today, the sun is shining on AMC,” said CEO and president Adam Aron in a statement. “After securing more than $1 billion of cash between April and November of 2020, through equity and debt raises along with a modest amount of asset sales, we are proud to announce today that over the past six weeks AMC has raised an additional $917 million capital infusion to bolster and solidify our liquidity and financial position. This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table.”
“Looking ahead, for AMC to succeed over the medium term, we are going to need for much of the general public in the U.S. and abroad to be vaccinated,” he continued. “To that end, we are grateful to the world’s medical communities for their heroic efforts to thwart the COVID virus. Similarly, we welcome the commitment by the new Biden administration and of other governments domestically and internationally to a broad-based vaccination program.”
At this time, Joe Bell does not have a release date. Keep checking back with ComicBook.com for updates.
