Sony Pictures has announced that the Jared Leto Marvel movie Morbius has been delayed. Originally expected to debut in theaters on January 28, it’s now scheduled for April 1, 2022 (this is no April Fool’s joke). The delay amounts to about three months.
It’s been a long road to release for Morbius. The film was originally slated to arrive in July 2020 before moving to March 2021, then October 8, 2021, then January 21, 2022, then January 28, 2022, and now April 1, 2022.
Variety, which reported the delay, said Sony Pictures might have delayed Morbius to help it perform better at the box office. The suggestion is that Omicron cases might slow down by then and people may be more eager to go to a theater.
Pushing #Morbius to April seems like a pure Covid move but Sony’s Q1 is already flush with Spidey cash and its Q2 was pretty bare. This likely makes Japan happier.
— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) January 4, 2022
Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home released in December and quickly became Sony’s most successful movie in its history and one of the biggest films of all time.
Morbius is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) from a story by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Morbius also stars Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Loxias Crown, Adria Arjona (Good Omens) as Morbius’s fiancée Martine, and Jared Harris (The Terror) as his mentor.
