As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic rages on, studios are struggling to figure out when it will be safe to release movies theatrically again. This has led to studios taking extreme measures.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, citing a studio executive, a number of release dates in 2023 are being snatched up by a number of studios. This is due to the current lack of certainty surrounding the reopening of cinemas worldwide. The United Kingdom, for example, has announced several reopening dates over the past two months, ultimately delaying them.

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The 2023 dates have been reserved in addition to dates in 2021 and 2022. Among the major releases currently delayed until 2021 are A Quiet Place Part II, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Disney's Jungle Cruise. Meanwhile, 2022 currently appears to hold Avatar 2, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder. It should be noted that these movies may be subject to further delays.

Moreover, a release calendar packed with delayed tentpoles is also expected to affect what kind of movies go to theaters. More mid-budget and low-budget films are likely to go to video-on-demand to open up more release date slots for blockbusters. "There is going to be a redefinition of what is theatrical and what is not", said one studio executive.

The majority of cinemas across the globe shut down in March, causing a swarm of 2020 movies to delay their releases. Some titles, such as Mulan, were merely postponed to later 2020 dates. Others, like F9, were delayed a whole year.

KEEP READING: United Kingdom Delays Movie Theater Reopenings to Mid-August, Masks Will Be Required