Tom Hanks Sci-Fi Film Bios Delayed by Universal

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt in the world of entertainment. While industries and businesses, including movie theaters, are starting to open up again or have plans to open in the near future, there is still a lot of uncertainty about. As a result, many studios are continuing to make changes to their schedules, shifting release dates for films and now that a growing list includes the Tom Hanks starring post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Bios. Universal Pictures has moved the film back from an October 2 release to April 16, 2021 according to a report from Variety.

Bios stars Hank as Finch, a robotics engineer who is also one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event that has left the world a wasteland. Finch has spent a decade living in an underground bunker with his dog, Goodyear, but with Finch terminally ill and time running out, he creates a robot to care for his beloved Goodyear. The trio embark on a perilous journey into the desolate American West with Finch striving to show his creation what it means to be human, learning about love, friendship and the meaning of life in the process. The film is directed by Miguel Sapochnik from a script by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell.

The reschedule of Bios was announced on Friday following the announcement that Warner Bros. is moving eight films on its slate. Tenet is moving back just two weeks from July 17 to July 31. Wonder Woman 1984 was moved again, this time pushed from August 14 to October 2, and even The Matrix 4 saw a new release date as well. The Lana Wachowski feature is now set to be released on April 1, 2022 — nearly a full year beyond its previously announced release date of May 21, 2021.

At this point, it is unclear if these new release dates will hold though things do appear to slowly be moving towards a return to something approximating normal. Earlier this week film and television production was given the green light to restart in Los Angeles County and AMC Theatres announced that it plans to have most of its locations open by July. However, even with things slowly opening back up, things may take some time before things get back into a rhythm like what existed prior to the pandemic.

“The reality is I don’t think we’re going to be able to get into a full-on rhythm again of product cycles and all that we had prior to COVID-19 until 2022,” Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi said previously. “That’s more production-related than our operation-related because as studios have had to adapt to not being able to do filming and do post-production, they’ve had to move their schedules. Therefore, we’re going to adapt as well.”

Bios is now set to open in theaters April 16, 2021.

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