The highly-anticipated third installment in the Venom superhero franchise will no longer be hitting the big screen next summer.
The untitled Sony and Marvel film was initially set to be released in theaters on July 12, 2024, but has been pushed back to Nov. 8, 2024, Sony announced Wednesday night.
The shift came just hours after SAG-AFTRA and studios and streamers reached a tentative deal over a new three-year contract following the 118-day actors strike.
Production had begun on the Venom sequel in late June in Spain, but it was among films that were halted the following month due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which started on July 14. Pushing the release date to November and giving the film more time to finish shooting and complete post-production work provides a certain amount of cushion. Also, Sony has secured a berth in Imax and premium-format screens.
In the third installment of the series, Tom Hardy returns as the lethal protector Venom. It is being directed by Kelly Marcel, who also wrote the screenplay with the story by Marcel and Hardy. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker are producing.
Franchise newcomers Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are also set to star in the film. As for the plot, most details have been kept under wraps.
Venom 3 joins a long list of films that have had their release dates moved back due to the writers and actors strikes that lasted months — and there’s bound to be more changes in the days and weeks to come.
Other impacted Sony films include Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which was set to open on March 29, 2024, but it has since been removed from the calendar for now. The studio also relocated Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter from Oct. 6 of this year to Aug. 30, 2024.