Monster Hunter Release Date Moves Forward, Now Releasing On Christmas Day

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The release date of the upcoming Monster Hunter film has yet again been rescheduled. Written, directed, and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson, Monster Hunter is a military sci-fi fantasy film based on Capcom's best-selling video game series of the same name. The movie follows an elite armed forces unit (Milla Jovovich, Tip "T. I." Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, and Jin Au-Yeung ) as it falls through a portal into an unknown world inhabited by monsters. In the new setting, a local hunter (Tony Jaa) helps the agents survive as they look for a way back home. Initially, Monster Hunter was due to release on September 4, 2020, but it was delayed to April 23, 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before being moved up to December 30. Now once again, the movie's premiere date has been changed.

Monster Hunter will now bow on Christmas Day, i.e. December 25, 2020. Sony Pictures Releasing, which has taken to distribute the movie under its Screen Gems label, has officially rescheduled Monster Hunter to debut on the same day as Wonder Woman 1984, although unlike the Marvel movie, Monster Hunter will honor a full theatrical window. Sony Pictures has additionally also rescheduled the premiere dates of two other movies that it is releasing under its Columbia Pictures banner. Paul Weitz's Fatherhood will now open on April 16, 2021, instead of November 19, 2020. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, meanwhile, has been delayed to April 2, 2021, from January 15, 2021, in the US.

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While holiday launches are generally favorable for movies in terms of box-office revenue, it is quite unclear how the holiday release date will fare for Monster Hunter given the unprecedented circumstances. For one, the movie has been rescheduled far too many times for fans to keep track. Then even on its release day, the movie will face stiff competition from Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984, which is already looking to occupy a good fraction of screens in whatever multiplexes that will be open on Christmas Day. Hopefully, the movie will perform better in Asian markets, where a large section of the target audience is based, because chances of domestic success look slim.