Venom 2 Release Date Gets Delayed By One Week

[ShadeShadow]

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has had its release date delayed once more, yet fans won't have to wait long to see the symbiote anti-hero in theaters. Originally set for release in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Sony to delay the release of the sequel to the 2018 hit film back to 2021. The studio set to open on June 25, 2021, but after Universal Studios delayed F9 to the same date, Sony moved Venom 2 back to September 14, 2021.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will see Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) going face to face with his most iconic villain, Carnage (Woody Harrelson). Carnage will be joined alongside the villain, Shriek (Naomi Harris), but other than that, little else is known about the plot. Motion-capture performer, Andy Serkis, is set to helm the project, taking over for original film director, Reuben Flesher. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is second film in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters.

Variety revealed that Sony has decided to delay Venom: Let There Be Carnage to September 24, 2021. The film now arrives three weeks after the release of Marvel Studios' Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Venom: Let There Be Carnage will now open alongside The Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, and the adaptation of the hit musical, Dear Evan Hansen.

screenshot-2021.03.31-01_49_16.jpg

This is one of many COVID-19 release date changes to delay a movie by just one week. Godzilla vs. Kong was set to premiere on March 26 but was delayed five days to March 31. Just recently, Warner Bros. delayed the release of Mortal Kombat back one week to April 23. These recent delays come as more theaters begin opening across the country due to the rollout of vaccines, decrease in COVID-19 cases, and cities lifting restrictions. Godzilla vs. Kong international box-office showed there was a strong demand for filmgoers to go out to the movies, and the first Venom grossed $269 million in China alone to bring its worldwide total to $856 million.

Sony has been keen to keep their films as theatrical exclusives. Sony delayed their entire 2020 slate into 2021 and since the beginning of the year have been adjusting their schedule. Unlike Disney, Warner Bros., or Paramount who have streaming services to release their popular films onto, Sony does not have a streaming outlet. Sony has shuffled the release date of a number of their films. Morbius, the other film spinning off of a classic Spider-Man villain, was moved from March 2021 to October 2021 and then just one day later was delayed to January 2022. Sony still has Spider-Man: No Way Home slated for December 17, 2021, and keeping Venom: Let There Be Carnage firmly before that release could be an indicator that there could be a connection between the two films.