New Maleficent 2 Release Date May Speak Volumes to Whether the Movie Is a Future Box Office Bomb
Strategic move or attempt to get rid of a bad film quickly? Only Disney knows why the Maleficent 2 release date has changed.
Disney is already the likely 2019 box office winner, with Captain Marvel tickets selling out fast, the live-action Dumbo and Aladdin coming soon, and Avengers: Endgame to dominate the box office in April. It clearly wants more of the box office haul because it has moved the Maleficent 2 release date to October 18, 2019, from May 29, 2020 – Memorial Day weekend.
Changing the Maleficent 2 Release Date Could Signal Trouble
Maleficent 2, or Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, starring Angelina Jolie, is a much-anticipated movie, as its predecessor Maleficent is great, but moving a big film from a big opening weekend, like Memorial Day, to October the year before could mean Maleficent 2 isn’t that great of a film.
October is not a prime movie season, except for Halloween flicks and leftovers from summer that would not make big office money as tent-poles. It is also a weak release window for Oscar contenders, so what gives with the Maleficent 2 release date ending up here? It could be a strategic move since Halloween in 2018 made a killing at the box office during this time with little competition. Or Maleficent 2 could be terrible, and Disney hopes to make as much as it can during a dead time at the movies to recoup the big budget.
When the movie releases in theaters, we will know just what Disney thought when they moved the Maleficent 2 release date. Fingers crossed it is not terrible.
As of now, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is up against animated The Addams Family and holdovers Zombieland 2 and The Goldfinch, plus Joker and Gemini Man. But as we all know, movie release dates can and do change.
The Maleficent 2 Cast and Crew
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora, Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith, Harris Dickinson as Prince Phillip, and Imelda Staunton as Knotgrass. Leslie Manville, Sam Riley, and Chiwetel Ejiofor are also in the cast. Joachim Rønning directs Maleficent 2 from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton.
