A new wave of infections hit various countries in the summer, proving that the pandemic wasn’t over. This surfaced fears that some of the highly anticipated events of the year, including movie releases, might see delays. This was especially true in late August, as some studios scrambled to decide how to move forward. Marvel’s Shang-Chi seemed to convince studios to release their biggest attraction of the year on schedule, or at least close to it. That included Marvel and Sony, whose Spider-Man: No Way Home co-production is the most highly anticipated movie of the year.
But as we approached the Eternals premiere, we learned that Marvel had delayed all of its 2022 movies, and many of its 2023 releases as well. Production issues prompted the delays. And we saw a rumor a few weeks ago saying that Sony might delay the No Way Home release as well. It turns out there was some truth to those rumors. No Way Home will be pushed back to January in some markets, although most people will still see it before Christmas, as intended.
Spider-Man: No Way Home release date
Sony and Marvel have started their marketing campaign for No Way Home, but they’re still moving at a slow pace. The Empire exclusive coverage brought us new photos and interviews with the No Way Home cast and crew. But Sony and Marvel did not release a second trailer to go along with the coverage.
Some said the new clip would play in theaters in time for Eternals’ November 5th release. More recently, reports claimed that Sony and Marvel have disagreed on what to show in the second trailer. Sony wants to feature the Maguire-Garfield surprise, while Marvel doesn’t, according to those reports.
But Sony and Marvel did not announce any plans to delay the global Spider-Man: No Way Home. Such an announcement seems unlikely at this point. Instead, we might see Sony and Marvel kickstart the No Way Home marketing campaign in earnest in the coming months.
No Way Home’s December 17th release date hasn’t changed for most markets. But The Direct points out that Sony has announced in some countries that the film has been pushed back to January.
Some premiere dates have shifted
Columbia Pictures Philippines confirmed on Facebook that No Way Home will hit theaters on January 8th in the country. That’s not the only movie release delay for the Philippines, with Venom 2 hitting cinemas on December 8th.
On top of that, Sony Picture Japan announced Spider-Man fans that the film will premiere in Japan about the same time as the Philippines. That’s January 7th, some three weeks after the international No Way Home release. Venom 2 will also launch late in Japan. And that’s a movie that needs to hit theaters before the new Spider-Man adventure.
Even with delays in place, the massive interest around the film will turn it into the highest-grossing movie of the pandemic so far. Markets like the US and Europe will generate a large chunk of the box office take. Spider-Man: No Way Home will hit cinemas on December 17th in the US and Europe.
