Another week and news of Venom: Let There Be Carnage getting yet another delay. This time however, it’s a big one. Having only just settled on an October release after previously being expected to land in September, the latest delay will see the movie finding itself taking the Morbius release slot in January 2022. The Tom Hardy movie has been one of the most mobile movies of the last couple of months thanks to both the rising number of Covid cases causing some dips in cinema-goer volumes, and Sony’s dedication to putting out their big movies in cinemas only and not finding a streaming route.
The report by Vulture came after Sony did not show any new Venom: Let There Be Carnage footage at CinemaCon, which featured the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer and a screening of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which, it was suggested, was due to the coming delay. Sources have now revealed that the movie is almost certainly going to take the January 21 spot that had been reserved for Morbius to make his cinematic debut.
The main probably for Sony is that they are desperate get their biggest upcoming movies in front of audiences, but the uncertainty of whether they are going to see any kind of reasonable return for their efforts means that they are also wanting to find a slot that is going to see more people venturing out to theaters. While January isn’t the best place for a summer blockbuster to sit, Sony seem to have little choice as they don’t want to step on the toes of their other big releases, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which lands on November 11, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is still holding its December 17 slot.
If the move does go ahead as expected, then this will mean Morbius will be slid back to around February or March, but it does show that Sony are prioritizing Venom over their new property. Considering Venom’s first appearance in 2018 broke records, Sony will be expecting the best possible return from the sequel, although at the moment $100 million plus is an exceptionally good opening weekend gross, so they are not going to see the kind of returns that they would have expected when making the movie. Whatever kind of sure thing Venom is regarded as, Morbius is currently an unknown. The character isn’t the most well known among those not dedicated to Marvel’s comic books, and how fans will feel about making a trip to the cinema for an untested property is something Sony probably don’t want to take a gamble on. Pushing Morbius back gives things just that little bit more time to settle and potentially allow Sony to recoup a little more money.
While Sony are clearly keeping a close eye on theatre performances at the moment, they will probably be joining Disney as all eyes turn to Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings, which Disney are putting out exclusively in cinemas next will and will be using as a gauge for their future releases such as Eternals which is currently expected to arrive in November, although whispers are already beginning to be heard that its release essentially is not guaranteed until the arrival of Shang-Chi can be assessed.