James Gunn says Suicide Squad and Guardians Vol. 3 release dates are unaffected by coronavirus
Film after film has been kicked down the road thanks to COVID-19, a virus we feel pretty comfortable hating with every fiber of our being. (Why couldn’t it be one of those nice viruses, like viral videos or Chalamet Fever?) Isolating ourselves in our homes to slow the spread and flatten the curve of infection means productions have been put on hold throughout the film and television industries, delaying countless movies and shows. But there’s a couple of films that apparently won’t be affected by the current shutdown: James Gunn’s next two superhero outings, DC’s Suicide Squad and Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
The director has been active on Twitter lately, hosting remote viewing parties of his previous movies, sharing stories and anecdotes from filming, and generally trying to raise spirits during this particularly trying time. And while Gunn is as fallible as the rest of us sometimes (people, Godfather Part II is not a better film than the first one, The Godfather is essentially flawless), that fallibility doesn’t extend to his soft reboot of Suicide Squad, which apparently got done everything that needed to happen before his post-production team was safely ensconced in their respective homes:
So, thanks to some careful advance planning, the film’s release date shouldn’t be affected in the slightest. Of course, it probably doesn’t hurt that the movie isn’t scheduled to come out until August 6, 2021, meaning Gunn and company have almost a year and a half to get it into shape. But Gunn’s other big upcoming project supposedly won’t see any delays due to the coronavirus, either, with the director again saying it’s moving forward according to schedule.
And while that’s reassuring for those eager to see just what happened to Peter Quill, Rocket, and the others after they set off with Thor in tow, there’s a slight caveat to this one as well, because the film hasn’t even been assigned a release date yet. It’s supposed to start filming sometime this summer, and while it’s anybody’s guess as to whether that will still happen at the arranged time, it’s probably a lot easier to assure everyone something won’t be affected by COVID-19 when there’s not really a firm schedule in place to begin with. Still, good news where you can get it, and all that. Until then, we’ll just have to wait for the first return to the MCU on the big screen in November, when the delayed Black Widow finally comes out.