King Richard, starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, won’t be in theaters until Nov. 19, 2021. The film, also starring Demi Singleton and Saniyya Sidney as the sisters and Aunjanue Ellis as their mother, was originally slated for Nov. 25, 2020.

The year-long delay is one of Warner Bros.’s many changes to the studio’s film schedule as COVID-19 continues its rampage through the entertainment industry. One thing that hasn’t completely changed about King Richard is that it is still being released during awards season. It makes sense to keep the film within awards contention regardless of the year of its release, since Smith’s turn as the legendary tennis dad and coach is bound to make critics’ radars.

Warner Bros. has also pushed back the release of the untitled Fred Hampton biopic starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield The film was expected to come to theaters Aug. 21, 2020. Now, though, the film has been moved off of the calendar, with a release date yet to be released.

Also among Warner Bros.’ rescheduled films includes The Batman, starring Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, and Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis biopic, starring Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The Batman is now expected to hit theaters Oct. 1, 2021, whereas the Elvis biopic is expected by Nov. 5, 2021.

Also moving to 2021 include The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel film to HBO’s hit series The Sopranos. The film will come to theaters March 21, 2021 instead of Sept. 25, 2020. Meanwhile, films scheduled for 2022 have also been rearranged on the release schedule, with The Flash now scheduled for a June 3, 2022 release instead of its original July 1, 2022 date. Shazam! 2 will now come to theaters Nov. 4, 2022 instead of April 1, 2022.

One of the films still coming to theaters in 2020 is Tenet, starring John David Washington, and Wonder Woman 1984. Tenet will retain its original July 17 release date, while the Wonder Woman sequel will open Aug. 14 instead of this June.

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Photo: Getty

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