Disney is on the cusp of what may be its biggest year at the box office ever. And now the Maleficent sequel is joining the party. The villainous sequel—Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, perhaps Disney’s most heavy metal title ever—has been moved up from its original May 29, 2020, release date to October 18 of this year. The sequel once again stars Elle Fanning as Aurora and Angelina Jolie (probably sans tiny sunglasses) in the titular role.
Now that the release date has been changed, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (which, dunno, really sounds like a lost Metallica album) will face off against a random assortment of competitors, including Warner Bros. and Amazon’s adaptation of The Goldfinch, Ang Lee’s Gemini Man starring Will Smith, and the Zombieland sequel. In addition, it will be up against an untitled horror film from Blumhouse, likely to be Maleficent’s stiffest competition. But Disney probably isn’t too worried. The first Maleficent, released in May 2014, opened at No. 1 at the box office, grossing $69 million in its opening weekend. It ultimately went on to gross $758 million worldwide.
So, why the change in release date? Representatives for Disney have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment, so all we can do is surmise for now. The studio is on the verge of having its biggest box office year in a while, with releases like Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, and Frozen 2 all crowding the horizon. In Marvel world, there’s Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. And then there’s Star Wars: Episode IX, the latest installment of a famously unprofitable franchise. In short, it’s looking like another multi-billion-dollar year for the studio. But per the upcoming schedule, many of those releases are set for spring, summer, and winter, leaving fall wide open. The season is typically a realm for early awards contenders and Halloween-adjacent horror releases, but evidently Disney wanted in on the fun; Maleficent 2 was perhaps the most obvious pick to slot in that timeframe. In addition, as Variety notes, had the film opened on its original 2020 release date, it would have been up against Fast & Furious 9 and The SpongeBob Movie.
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