Artemis Fowl to fly on Disney+; Mulan & Marvel’s Phase 4 films get redated

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

After a bout of indecision related to some of the studio's upcoming releases, Disney has pulled the trigger on assigning dates and destinations for several of their tentpole releases.

To begin, Walt Disney Studios announced today that it will debut its new live-action feature film ARTEMIS FOWL exclusively on Disney+. While the studio has yet to confirm when the film based on the best-selling young adult book by author Eoin Colfer will premiere on the streaming service, we now know that the family-oriented fantasy adventure is no longer headed to cinemas.

In this fantastical, spellbinding adventure, 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl (Shaw), a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, embarks on a journey to find his father (Farrell), who has mysteriously disappeared. With the help of his loyal protector Butler (Anozie), Artemis sets out to find him, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilization—the amazingly advanced world of fairies. Deducing that his father’s disappearance is somehow connected to the secretive, reclusive fairy world, cunning Artemis concocts a dangerous plan—so dangerous that he ultimately finds himself in a perilous war of wits with the all-powerful fairies.

ARTEMIS FOWL stars newcomer Ferdia Shaw in the title role alongside Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad, Tamara Smart, Nonso Anozie, Josh McGuire, Nikesh Patel and Adrian Scarborough, with Colin Farrell and Judi Dench.

In addition to moving ARTEMIS FOWL to a home release, Disney has set new theatrical release dates for thier live-action version of MULAN as well as Marvel's slate of Phase 4 superhero films. Furthermore, the studio's JUNGLE CRUISE, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, is being pushed back a year to July 30, 2021.

As per the new dates, MULAN is now set to honor us all in theaters on July 24, 2020, while BLACK WIDOW has been moved to a November 6, 2020 theatrical release, thereby knocking ETERNALS from its original spot. Because of the shift, ETERNALS will now open on February 12, 2021, which displaces Marvel's SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, which has since been dragon kicked back to a May 7, 2021 debut. Now, because Shang-Chi is being moved, that means that DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS must also be repositioned. Therefore, the Doctor Strange sequel now has a launch date of November 5, 2021. Hold up, we're not done yet. Due to the COVID-19 kerfuffle, THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER has been relocated to a February 28, 2022 premiere, with BLACK PANTHER 2 now pouncing on a May 6, 2022 launch, with CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 moving up two weeks to July 8, 2022.

Did you get all that? Don't worry, we'll double back before this article is through.

In Disney/20th Century Fox-related news, Ryan Reynolds' FREE GUY is moving from its July 3 date to December 11, 2020. However, despite the switch of Fox's video game-centric comedy, Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY remains in step for the film's December 18 opening night. Meanwhile, Ridley Scott's THE LAST DUEL will also maintain its December 25 opening in theaters.

Last but not least. I promise, this is the last one. Searchlight and Wes Anderson's THE FRENCH DISPATCH is moving from July 14 to an October 16 bow in theaters.

Okay, I promised you that we'd double back for the Marvel dates, so here we go:

BLACK WIDOW is now dated for November 6, 2020

ETERNALS is now dated for February 12, 2021

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS is now dated for May 7, 2021

DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS is now dated for November 5, 2021

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER is now dated for February 28, 2022

BLACK PANTHER is now dated for May 6, 2022

CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 is now dated for July 8, 2022

Woof! We did it, you guys! Please adjust your calendars accordingly. Oh, and while you're at it, raise a middle finger up high for COVID-19, which continues to hold us all in its sickly, despicable grasp.