No ‘Black Widow’ or ‘F9’ leaves a muted summer movie season

LOS ANGELES — The six-year fan campaign for a standalone Black Widow movie was paying off: at long last, a film would put Scarlett Johansson’s popular Avenger front and center. And there was a lot more to look forward to: Tom Cruise’s return to one of his most iconic roles, a “Wonder Woman” sequel, original fare from Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson and more. Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” will open on Oct. 16, “Black Widow” will get her day on Nov. 6 and “Top Gun: Maverick” is now set for Christmas time. “Until the majority of markets in the U.S. are open, and major markets in particular, new wide release movies are unlikely to be available.” The nation’s largest movie theater chain, AMC, which operates over 630 theaters in the U.S., said in a statement that in order to reopen they “need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited.” AMC said it would open in the weeks ahead of blockbusters like “Tenet” and “Mulan” using “creative programming” of previously released films. But perhaps the turbulence of the lost 2020 summer movie season will result in some strategic rethinking — at least that’s what film critic and “Unspooled” co-host Amy Nicholson hopes.