Walt Disney on Friday made a number of shifts to its release calendar, including pushing Peter Jackson’s anticipated documentary “The Beatles: Get Back” to August 2021.
The film was originally set to hit theaters in September 2020, but the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down theaters around the world, has forced Disney and virtually every other Hollywood studio, to rearrange release schedules on the fly.
“The Beatles: Get Back” features never-before-seen footage from The Beatles’ recording sessions during their album “Let It Be,” including the band’s final live concert as a group, their iconic rooftop performance on London’s Savile Row.
In addition to pushing that film’s release, Disney on Friday said that its live-action and CGI mixed film “The One and Only Ivan” will now debut on Disney+ in August rather than head to theaters.
The film, based on Katherine Applegate’s novel of the same name, tells the story of Ivana, a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant and Bob the dog. He has few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but when a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, it touches something deep within him. Ruby is recently separated from her family in the wild, which causes him to question his life, where he comes from and where he ultimately wants to be.
“The world has changed in a heartbeat. People all over the globe have shared important, life changing experiences in ways we have not seen for a century,” said the film’s director Thea Sharrock. “In response to this, I am so happy that we can share Katherine Applegate’s delightful and original story, ‘The One and Only Ivan’ with the world this August on Disney+, bringing some joy through this unique movie of true friendship, inspired by a true story.”
Disney also moved “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” based on the U.K. musical about a 16-year-old who overcomes prejudice to become a drag queen, to January 2021. The film was set to hit theaters in October 2020. And the studio dated Searchlight’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield” for Aug. 14, 2020.