Disney Removes Free Guy, Death on the Nile from 2020 Release Schedule

Disney has removed two upcoming films — Free Guy and Death on the Nile — from its 2020 release schedule. Both films were set to be released sometime in December, but no longer have an official release date attached. Free Guy, which stars Ryan Reynolds as a video game NPC who gains awareness of his life, was set to be released on December 11, 2020. However, presumably based on the continued weakness of the movie theater industry, Disney has removed Free Guy from its release calendar and has not specified a replacement date. The same applies to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express sequel, Death on the Nile. The murder mystery movie was set to be released on December 18, 2020, but has also been removed from the 2020 release calendar without a replacement date. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/05/free-guy-official-trailer-2-2020-ryan-reynolds-taika-waititi"] The movie industry continues to roil under the COVID-19 pandemic. AMC, one of the largest theater chains, reported massive financial losses this past quarter. The failure of films like Tenet to bring people back to theaters have scared off most of 2020’s blockbusters into next year including Black Widow, Fast 9, Dune, and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/death-on-the-nile-official-trailer"] As theater-goers remain at home, the film industry has adapted somewhat. Films are being released digitally on streaming platforms like Disney+. Tenet is also heading to Blu-ray and digital media in December, a few months after its theater rollout. But for the time being, there doesn’t appear to be a way out of the movie theater crisis just yet. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.