Film / Release Date Change

Film — Animated

Aladdin almost made its Blu-ray and Digital HD debut in Spring 2013, with the Lady and the Tramp 2012 Diamond Edition BD even including an ad for it. However, after Disney decided to release Peter Pan in HD in February 2013 (the month of its 60th anniversary), Disney's American home video branch pushed back Aladdin's HD release date, to October 2015. The European/Australian branch still released Aladdin on Blu-ray in Spring 2013, with different cover art and bonus features than the American BD would eventually receive.
Bambi and Cinderella originally had their respective DVD debuts scheduled for October 2005 and Oct. 2007. In 2003, they got pushed up to March and October of 2005, ensuring that all of Walt Disney's additions to the Disney Animated Canon would come to DVD^note before Disney would start releasing Blu-Ray Discs.
Barnyard and The Ant Bully were set to be released on July 28 and August 4 2006, respectively. Some time prior to the first, their release dates got switched around.
Beauty and the Beast:
- The special edition (with the new "Human Again" sequence) was supposed to be released during the 1998 holiday season, but it was delayed so as not to compete with A Bug's Life and The Prince of Egypt, among other films. It was rescheduled for Spring 1999, but when the decision to move Doug's 1st Movie from direct-to-video to a theatrical release was made (in the wake of The Rugrats Movie's success that previous holiday season!) it was moved to the end of the year — only to be delayed again both because that Christmas was unusually competitive and Toy Story 2 and the IMAX release of Fantasia 2000 were also due. It was finally released on IMAX screens at the top of 2002.
- Then there was the 3-D reissue. Originally scheduled for February 12th, 2010, Disney pulled it from the schedule and released it on Blu-ray instead. After The Lion King had a successful run in 3-D, the 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast finally went to theatres on January 13th, 2012.
The Black Cauldron was originally scheduled for Christmas 1984, but was delayed to July 1985 due to Executive Meddling revising and editing the film to make the film less dark and scary in the wake of a badly-received test screening. A reissue of Pinocchio took over the Christmas slot.
Bolt was originally going to be released in 2006, but it was changed to 2007, then Summer 2008, and finally November 21, 2008.
Cars was originally supposed to be released on November 4, 2005, which was even mentioned in the film's first teaser, but it was changed to June 9, 2006 due to Disney's purchase of Pixar.
Chicken Little was originally supposed to be released on July 1, 2005, but it was pushed back to November 4.
The English dub of the South Korean film Dino Time was originally announced to be released in America on December 7, 2012, but as of summer 2013 it still hasn't been released.
- With the hype over Jurassic World, it's been released in America on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and retitled Back to the Jurassic.
  - In the UK it was released on DVD only, still with the original title.
Elio was originally slated for release on March 1, 2024 before being pushed back to June 13, 2025 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Due to this, Pixar released their three Disney+ films (Soul, Luca and Turning Red) in theaters nationwide around the time the film was supposed to come out.
The Fox and the Hound was originally going to be released in late 1980, but it got pushed back to July 1981 due to the departure of Don Bluth and his team from Disney.
Frozen II originally was scheduled for a November 27, 2019 release, six years to the day of the release of Frozen. However, the release date was bumped forward a week to November 22nd.
Pixar's The Good Dinosaur was shelved from May 2014 to November 2015 after director Bob Peterson left the project. As a result, Finding Dory was moved to June 2016 and Maleficent was pushed back to fill in the gap left by The Good Dinosaur. This delay caused the Pixar short Party Central, which was going to accompany The Good Dinosaur, to be released with Muppets Most Wanted in March 2014.
A Goofy Movie was originally going to be released in November 1994, but due to production delays at Walt Disney Animation France, it was moved to April 1995 and The Lion King (1994) was re-released to fill the gap in Disney's release schedule.
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! was meant to come out in 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Scooby Doo. Due to executive meddling and script changes, it was released on October 6, 2020.
Earlier posters and trailers gave the release date for the third Happy Heroes film, Happy Heroes: The Stones, as July 8th, 2022, which was later moved back to July 22nd.
DreamWorks Animation's Home (2015) was scheduled for November 2014 and Penguins of Madagascar was aimed at March 2015 before the films swapped dates.
- According to this article, the initial release date of Home was November 2016, a date which would later go to Trolls.
Hoodwinked! 2 was going to be released in 2010 (with fast food toys appearing before the movie was even released), but was pushed back until Spring 2011.
The Land Before Time was originally going to be released in the fall of 1987, but it was delayed by a year due to the relocation of Sullivan Bluth Studios to Ireland.
Meet the Robinsons was to have been released on December 15, 2006 but it got pushed to March 30, 2007.
Mr. Bug Goes to Town was originally going to be released to theaters sometime in the fall of 1941, but it was moved to December to avoid competition with Dumbo. Unfortunately, its release date was a mere two days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which contributed to its failure.
The CGI adaptation of Mr. Peabody and Sherman was supposed to be released on November 8, 2013, but got moved to March 7, 2014.
The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature was supposed to be released on May 19, 2017, but was moved to August 11, 2017 because of competition from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Like Hoodwinked!, kids' meal toys were given away months prior to the film's release at Hardee's as a result.
Ratatouille was originally going to be released in November 2006, but it was changed to June 29, 2007.
Recess: School's Out was originally scheduled for July 2000, but due to Disney fearing competition from Pokémon 2000, the movie was moved to February 2001.
A trailer for The Rescuers (seen on the VHS of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride) promised a video release on November 20, 1998 (November 24 on the Canadian prints). It would eventually get released on January 5, 1999 (and then recalled and re-released that March because of the "breast" controversy).
Shrek 2 was to have been released in June 2004, but it got bumped to May 21 before its final date of May 19.
Shrek the Third was originally going to be released in November 2006, but it was changed to May 2007.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was originally going to be released on October of 2022, but was later changed to April 2023, and later, June 4, 2023.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was originally set for release for June 18, 1999, but was then moved later to July 17 and back again. It bounced to June 11 and July 2 before getting its final release date of June 30.
Spies in Disguise had its release date pushed to December 2019 from September due to the Disney/Fox merger.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was originally planned for a late 2014 release (possibly to coincide with the show's 15th anniversary and the first movie's 10th anniversary), but was then pushed to February 13, 2015, and then pushed again to February 6, 2015 in order to avoid competition with Fifty Shades of Grey. The irony is that one of the posters for the movie parodies Fifty Shades of Grey. And then these two incidents happened when it came out.
Illumination Entertainment's The Super Mario Bros. Movie was delayed 4 months from the holiday 2022 season to April 2023 (7th for North America, 28th for Japan). While it still released on April 28 in Japan, it was moved up two days to April 5 in most of the rest of the world, including North America.
Surf's Up was originally going to be released in 2006, but it was changed to June 8, 2007.
Toy Story 4 was originally scheduled for June 15, 2018 while Incredibles 2 was targeted at June 21, 2019, before Pixar switched the films' dates due to the latter already being completed before the former.
A Troll in Central Park was originally scheduled for release in March 1994, but production difficulties postponed it until October.
UglyDolls was originally set to release on May 10th, 2019. It was bumped forward to May 3rd of the same year, most likely to avoid competing with Pokémon Detective Pikachu, which also releases on the 10th and following Avengers: Endgame's below-mentioned push. However, the film still leaves a reference to this original date during the "Couldn't Be Better" musical number, where Moxy circles the original release date, Friday, May 10th, on her calendar.
We Bare Bears: The Movie was originally going to come out on digital on June 8, 2020 before being moved to June 30.
Wreck-It Ralph was originally scheduled for March 22, 2013, but was bumped ahead to November 2, 2012.
- Fortunately, its DVD release was released two weeks before its initially scheduled release date.

Film — Live-Action

Airplane Mode (which starred Logan Paul as the main character) was delayed by over a year after Paul's incident in Aokigahara.
Alita: Battle Angel was originally set to be released on July 20, 2018, but after poor reception over the title character's uncanny looks, it was delayed to December 21, 2018 to accommodate re-editing some of the CGI, and then again to February 14, 2019 due to heavy competition during the infamous "Christmas Blitz" of December 2018 (it would had been released on the same day as Aquaman and Bumblebee, two days after Mary Poppins Returns, and a week after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Mortal Engines. Mortal Engines ended up steamrolled by all of them and it's highly likely Alita would've had a similar fate had its December release date been maintained).
The film adaptation of Artemis Fowl was originally going to be released on August 9, 2019 (the same day that Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was released) but it was pushed back a year to May 29, 2020. Its theatrical release was ultimately cancelled and it was released on Disney+ two weeks after its scheduled date, on June 12, 2020.
Avengers: Infinity War was supposed to be released on May 4, 2018, but it was bumped up a week early to April 27, 2018 in order to avert the Short Run in Peru trope leading to spoiler leaks.
- Similarly, Avengers: Endgame was scheduled to be released on May 3, 2019, but was bumped up to April 26, 2019.
Bastille Day was originally given the release date of 19 February 2016 in the United Kingdom but was delayed until 22 April 2016 due to the Paris attacks in November 2015.
The 2013 remake of Carrie was pushed back from March to October of that year. The studio's explanation was that releasing a big horror movie around Halloween made more sense than releasing it in March; director Kimberly Peirce's explanation was that the Sandy Hook massacre necessitated the change.
Chaos Walking (2021) was originally scheduled for release on 1st March 2019, but it was pushed back to January 22nd 2021 due to significant portions of the film being reshot; the reshoots themselves had to be delayed to accommodate the main cast's schedules. And then it got delayed again to March 5th 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cruella was delayed from an original date of December 23, 2020 to May 28, 2021. This early move allowed it to avoid any date changes due to COVID (though it did wind up becoming simultaneously available on Disney+ Premier Access as a result).
The Dark Crystal was originally scheduled for a May 28, 1982 release date, but was ultimately moved to December 17 of that year, partly to rehabilitate the film after poor test screenings and also because of heavy competition that summer, led by the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Dr. Strangelove was originally planned for a November 23, 1963 release. But after President Kennedy was assassinated the day before and the original ending of the film posed a conflict of interest (since cut), the release was put off until January 31, 1964.
Denis Villeneuve's Dune was originally slated for release on November 20, 2020, then Warner Bros. rescheduled it to December, 18. Then further delays happened due to the COVID-19 Pandemic (see the related page).
- Dune: Part Two was first scheduled to be released on October 20, 2023, then it was changed to November 17. It moved to November 3 to adjust to changes in release schedules from other studios and later to March 15, 2024 due to the effects of the SAG-AFTRA strike.strike.
Peter Jackson's Get Back, with the Beatles, was intended to be released in August 2020. After COVID-19 made its mark, the film was re-edited as a three-part miniseries and aired on Disney+ during Thanksgiving week in 2021. The rooftop concert has since been screened on IMAX theaters.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife was pushed from December 22, 2023 to March 29, 2024 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA Strike, before being moved to March 22, 2024.
Happy Death Day 2U was moved up a day from February 14, 2019 to the 13th on the request of survivors of the Parkland shooting, so it wouldn't debut on the 1-year anniversary of the incident.
The sixth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was originally slated for November 21, 2008, but Warner Bros. moved it to July 15, 2009. Some said it was because of the WGA Strike of 2008, but the real reason was that Warner Bros. realized they didn't have a big tentpole film for the summer. Since The Dark Knight had already been a phenomenal hit in 2008, they didn't need another big film for the calendar year and bottom line, so they moved Harry Potter to summer 2009 to fill the void.
- Order of the Phoenix was to be released in November 2006, but it got moved to July 2007.
The Hellboy reboot was previously scheduled to be released on January 11, 2019. It was moved to April 12, 2019.
The Hunt suffered a notorious one. Originally set for September 27, 2019, the film's trailer garnered extremely vicious reactions from U.S. right-wing media, accusing the film — a riff on The Most Dangerous Game that satirized both sides of the political spectrum — of being a dangerous political tool intended to glorify the murder of conservatives. Even then-President Donald Trump got in on the act, condemning "Liberal Hollywood" for making the film. Paired with two high-profile mass shooting events in August 2019, with the shooter expressing a political bent in each, Universal suspended advertizing for the film and eventually removed it from the schedule, later redating it for March 13, 2020. Unfortunately for the film (which launched a new promotional campaign embracing the controversy), the new date landed it right at the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, cutting its run short after just five days in theaters and forcing it to shift to a VOD release.
I Feel Pretty was originally planned to be released on June 29, 2018, but after positive feedback following the initial trailer it was moved to April 27, 2018. It was then moved forward one week to April 20, in order to avoid competing with Avengers: Infinity War.
The Interview was planned to be released on Christmas Day 2014, but it is now indefinitely shelved after computer hacks and terrorist threats, apparently from North Korea (due to its plot about assassinating Kim Jong-Un) targeting Sony Pictures — and all theaters that dared to screen the film — with retaliation should it be released.
- Which was then subverted in a way when it went into limited release in select independent theaters on the intended date, with the film also available for streaming on sites like YouTube and Google Play the day before.
Iron Eagle was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 1986, but it got moved up six months to avoid direct competition with Top Gun.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit was supposed to be released on Christmas 2013, but was pushed back to January 2014 in favor of The Wolf of Wall Street.
Jack the Bear, starring Danny DeVito, was originally going to be released for Christmas 1991, but 20th Century Fox put the release on hold to do reshoots. By this point, DeVito was too busy with Batman Returns and Hoffa, meaning that the production had to wait until the summer of 1992, when DeVito was finally available, to begin reshoots. Fox subsequently released Jack the Bear on April 2, 1993.
Josh and S.A.M. was supposed to be released in spring 1993 (and would have been one of the last films to use the 1989 version of the 1981 Columbia Pictures logo), but was pushed back to November 1993.
- Due to getting delayed to November 1993, the film had the 1989 version of the 1981 Columbia Pictures logo replaced with the 1993 logo instead, but due to Sony's poor editing habits, the in-credit logo was left untouched.
Jupiter Ascending was originally scheduled for July 2014, but two months before its intended release, Warner Bros. pushed it back to February 2015 so as to give the production crew enough time to work on the film's visual effects.
The Last Airbender was going to be released on July 2, 2010, but was moved up one day to July 1.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the sequel to 2014's Maleficent, was pulled forward to October 18, 2019 from its original projected May 29, 2020 date. This proved extremely fortunate as, in doing so, it unwittingly avoided the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Man on the Moon was originally slated for Fall 1999, but Universal Pictures pushed it back to December 25, then a few days forward to the 22nd, to serve as the studio's big Christmas release — to the objection of the screenwriters, who didn't think the film was that commercial (and they were right). This also had a knock-on effect on the soundtrack album, which was pushed back from October to November 23rd.
It was originally announced The Marsh King's Daughter (2023) would be released on October 6th 2023, but it was moved up to November 3rd 2023 to avoid competing with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was originally slated for Christmas 2015. However, another spy movie in November (James Bond, no less!) and extended hype for another December release, The Force Awakens, made Paramount push it forward to July 2015. The change imposed a massive time crunch on post-production (shooting had only been finished in March 2015), and the film was ultimately completed just weeks before release.
The Richard Gere drama Mr. Jones was originally scheduled for an October 1992 release, but poor test screenings led to TriStar Pictures delaying the release so that reshoots could be done. It was rescheduled for April 1993, but Warner Bros. had another Gere movie, Sommersby, scheduled for March. Warner subsequently rescheduled Sommersby for February 5, 1993, but TriStar felt more reshoots were needed for Mr. Jones and the film was delayed again. After the second round of reshoots (with a different director) were completed, Mr. Jones was finally released on October 8, 1993, to lukewarm reviews and mediocre box office.
Monster Trucks was one of the most extreme cases, although the effects helped post-production take a lot. Filmed in 2014, the release date was changed four times, ultimately settling for January 2017 - i.e. the very definition of a Dump Month.
Muppets from Space was intended to be released around February 2000, but Sony wanted it to be one of their big summer movies for 1999, giving the film less time to advertise.
No Time to Die was originally scheduled to be released on November 15, 2019, but was moved to February 14, 2020, due to original director Danny Boyle getting replaced by Cary Fukunaga. It was then pushed back to April 8, 2020, due to rewrites. This would have made it the first James Bond movie since Licence to Kill to not receive a fall release, until it was pushed back again in March 2020 to that November thanks to COVID-19 shutting down movie theatres across the globe. As noted in the COVID-19 page, it got delayed a fourth time to April 2021, then again to October 2021.
The Predator was originally scheduled by 20th Century Fox for a March 2, 2018 release date, until the date was moved to February 9, 2018. It was then delayed to August 3, 2018. In February 2018, the released date was delayed to September 14, 2018.
Phone Booth was delayed by two years due to similarities to the Beltway Shootings.
Ready Player One was originally scheduled to be released on December 15, 2017, but was pushed back to March 30, 2018 to avoid competition with The Last Jedi.
Sonic the Hedgehog was targeted for a release at some point in 2016 to tie in with the franchise's 25th anniversary. Thanks to Sony's Executive Meddling, the film got pushed back to 2018, and then dropped by Sony altogether due to tensions with producer Neal Moritz. After Moritz signed with Paramount, that studio picked the film up and set it for November 15, 2019. After Top Gun: Maverick was delayed by a year, Sonic moved up a week, to November 8. When the trailer came out and was panned by fans for Sonic's looks, it was pushed forward to February 14, 2020 to accommodate his redesign.
J. J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot was originally slated to be released in Christmas 2008, but was pushed back to May 2009, probably finding a summer release more profitable.
Star Wars A New Hope was originally intended to be released Christmas 1976. Unfortunately, the difficult shoot and the troubles at ILM with the special effects resulted in the film getting pushed back to May 1977. Interestingly, once Disney bought Star Wars, the Sequel Trilogy were Christmas releases.
Ted was originally scheduled for release on July 13, 2012, but got pushed ahead to June 29 to avoid competition with Ice Age: Continental Drift and to make up for the delay of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
A Thousand Words was filmed in 2008 and scheduled for release in 2009, but the DreamWorks/Paramount split caused it to be delayed repeatedly. It was finally released on March 9, 2012.
Titanic was originally scheduled to be released on July 2, 1997. However, the post-production went over-budget and behind schedule, pushing it back to December. This left Paramount without a summer release, and they quickly scrambled to get another film ready to fill the empty slot. That film was Event Horizon, which was originally going to be a fall release.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent originally had an announced release date of March 19, 2021. However, the premiere ended up taking place almost a year later, on March 12, 2022, with the wide release date pushed back to April 22, 2022. The new date for the premiere allowed Lionsgate to reshoot some scenes in Los Angeles.
The film adaptation of V for Vendetta was due to be released on November 5, 2005 - exactly 400 years after the failure of a previous plot to destroy the Houses of Parliament (the films's climax is the building being destroyed). This was pushed back to March 11, 2006. Many theorised this was due to its closeness of the London bombings of 7 July and the attempted bombings two weeks later. The filmmakers, however, claimed it was to give them longer to work on them visual effects.
We Can Be Heroes was originally planned to hit Netflix on New Year's Day 2021, but the service bumped up its release date one week earlier, to Christmas Day 2020. This turned it into counter-programming for Wonder Woman 1984, which shares a genre and one major actor, but skews towards an older demographic.
X-Men Film Series:
- X-Men was first set for Christmas 2000, but it got the June release date that was to have been for Minority Report once Steven Spielberg delayed that for A.I., forcing production to roll six months ahead of schedule. The release date was then moved to July 14.
- Dark Phoenix was originally given the release date of November 2, 2018, but was ultimately moved to February 14th, 2019, to accommodate reshoots and Bohemian Rhapsody. It was then moved a second time to June 7, 2019, just a day after its first trailer and poster (with the February 14th date on it) were released!
- Also see The New Mutants on the COVID-19 page.
Sneakerella was originally going to be released on Disney+ on February 18, 2022, but was later pushed back three months to May 13 for unknown reasons.

Release Date Change / Film

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