How Coronavirus Is Affecting Entertainment: All the Major Delays and Cancellations

Variety Staff
·13 min read

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After the World Health Organization officially classified the coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic, dozens of major film festivals, movie premieres, sports events and productions have been canceled or postponed in an unprecedented turn of events.

As the crisis continues to escalate, the number of cases worldwide has increased to more than 130,000 and there have been more than 4,900 deaths reported. Total confirmed cases in the United States have grown to more than 1,500 with 40 total deaths reported.

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Like all industries around the world, the entertainment sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson became the first celebrities to announce that they have tested positive for the coronavirus. Production on Hanks’ film, the upcoming untitled Elvis Presley biopic by Baz Luhrmann, has been halted. Release dates for major films have been pushed back, including the James Bond movie “No Time to Die” and the ninth “Fast and Furious” movie, the latter getting delayed a year.

Several TV productions have also been postponed. Season four of “Riverdale” has been paused after a member of the production came into contact with someone who recently tested positive for coronavirus. “Survivor,” “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “The Amazing Race” have also been shut down temporarily.

View all the shows and movies that have had their productions affected here.

See a list of cancellations, delays and more below, which will be updated as more are announced:

Industry Events, Markets and Festivals:

The Academy of Country Music Awards has been rescheduled to air on CBS at an undetermined date in September. It was originally set for Sunday, April 5, in Las Vegas.

The Paley Center will be closed through the end of March and previously scheduled events during the month have been postponed.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has been postponed to later this year. It was originally slated to run from April 1-5.

This year’s 22nd annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, better known as Ebertfest, has been canceled. It will come back on April 14-17, 2021, at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Ill.

ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia, Fox, Discovery, The CW and NBCUniversal have canceled their upfront presentations, opting for an alternative to stream them.

New York’s Tribeca Film Festival has been postponed to an unannounced date. It was originally scheduled for April 15-26.

All of the Canadian Academy’s Canadian Screen Week activities in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have been canceled.

The comic convention WonderCon was postponed, while organizers confirmed that the San Diego Comic Con is still set for July 23-26.

CinemaCon, the annual trade show bringing together movie theater exhibitors, distributors and partners, was canceled.

The Miami Film Festival canceled all of its remaining screening and events. Organizers said that they will reach out to ticket holders regarding passes for canceled screenings.

TCM Classic Film Festival, scheduled for April 16-19 in Los Angeles, was canceled in light of increasing health concerns. The organization said attendees will be fully refunded.

International Cinematography Summit, planned by the Board of the American Society of Cinematographers, postponed the event that was planned for this June. The organization said the decision was “taken after much thoughtful consideration, and not out of a reflexive panic.”

Hong Kong FilMart, Asia’s largest film and TV trade fair, postponed its scheduled date in March to a new slot in August. The market will be cut from four days to three, and be held Aug. 27-29.

MipTV, France’s TV market in Cannes, has been canceled and postponed its third annual drama sidebar, Canneseries. The cancellation also covers offshoot events MipDoc and MipFormats, which take place the weekend before the market. Canneseries will now run alongside Mipcom (Oct. 12-15), running from Oct. 9-14. Organizers have said MipTV will return next April, alongside a fourth edition of Canneseries.

Facebook’s F8 developers conference is no longer taking place on May 5-6. Facebook is planning “other ways for our community to get together through a combo of locally hosted events, videos and live streamed content” in place of the in-person event.

Google canceled its biggest annual event, I/O, which was set to run in Mountain View, Calif., from May 12-14. Last year’s conference featured keynotes, panel discussions and a first look at Google’s latest developer products and platforms.

SXSW has been canceled, following the withdrawal of several companies, including Netflix, Amazon and Apple, from the festival. The entertainment, technology and music festival was originally set to run from March 13-22 in Austin, Texas.

A+E Networks and AMC Networks have both canceled the live presentations they had scheduled in March as part of the industry’s annual upfront ad-sales market. A+E Networks, however, will instead schedule “virtual” discussions with media-buying agencies and clients over the course of the week of March 23.

The American Film Institute has postponed its Life Achievement Award gala. The annual ceremony, set to honor Julie Andrews this year, was scheduled to take place April 25 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, but has been rescheduled for a date in early summer.

TED2020 will either be pushed from April 20-26 to July 26-30, or be restructured as a virtual event with local gatherings. TED will also hold a special virtual session on Earth Day (April 22). It will take place during the original week or TED2020.

The Prague International Film Festival, also known as Febiofest, has been axed until further notice and will aim to be rescheduled later this year.

Snap has canceled its Snap Partner Summit that was supposed to take place on April 2 in Los Angeles. The event, held for Snapchat developers, content creators and advertisers, is moving to an online-only streaming presentation. Snap will now stream the keynote and product announcements online, starting at 10:30 a.m. PT on April 2, at snapchat.com.

Quibi has canceled its red carpet launch event that was set for April 5 — just a day before the much-anticipated mobile streaming service goes live on April 6. “Supporting the health and well-being of everyone involved is our top priority,” a spokesperson for Quibi told Variety.

Rupaul’s 2020 DragCon in Los Angeles has been canceled. DragCon L.A. will return in 2021 and will be working with Eventbrite to issue refunds.

The Entertainment Electronic Expo, also known as E3, has been canceled. The annual convention for the video game industry had been scheduled to run from June 9-11 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Entertainment Software Assn, the trade group producing the event, is investigating options for an online event.

Series Mania has been scrapped following the French government’s new health codes enforcing travel restrictions and banning meetings of over 1,000 people. The TV festival attracts roughly 83,000 individuals each year and had been set to run from March 20-28.

YouTube has canceled its annual Brandcast marketing presentation, instead electing to stream the event. Brandcast had been scheduled for April 30 as part of the eight-day Digital Content NewFront series, produced by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Though other companies have yet to cancel their in-person events, the IAB has urged all participants to swap to streaming.

The National Association of Broadcasters has scrapped its annual April conference in Las Vegas. The event attracted about 90,000 attendees last year. It had been slated to begin on April 18. NAB is investigating options for rescheduling the convention at a later time.

Theater/Comedy Clubs:

Both the Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts announced they were temporarily closing down starting Tuesday, March 17. The CEO of MGM Resorts said in a statement, “While making difficult decisions to close certain aspects of our operations, it is now apparent that this is a public health crisis that requires major collective action if we are to slow its progression.” The MGM Resorts include: the MGM Grand, The Mirage, Park MGM, Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino, CityCenter, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, as well as the Bellagio Hotel. Wynn Resort CEO Matt Maddox promised in a video that all full-time employees of the Vegas resorts will be paid.

Performances of “Hamilton” in Los Angeles have been suspended through March 31.

All shows on Broadway have shut down. The Broadway League announced that performances will resume the week of April 13, 2020.

The Wallis in Beverly Hills, Calif., has canceled or postponed all productions, presentations, public gatherings and educational programs through March 31, 2020. This includes “Romantics Anonymous,” “Emil and the Detectives” and Johnny Gandelsman’s Complete Bach Cello Suites concert on violin.

National Lampoon has postponed the debut of its new comedy musical “Lemmings 21st Century” until Aug 15-16. The production was originally set to be unveiled on March 14-15 at Joe’s Pub in New York City. Ticketholders can contact the box office of Joe’s Pub for a refund or transfer to the August performances.

The Comedy Store locations on Sunset Boulevard and La Jolla has suspended all shows through the end of the month.

Music Festivals/Concert Tours/Live Events/Theme Parks:

All Disney theme parks worldwide, Universal Studios, Six Flags America and Knott’s Berry Farms have been closed through the end of March.

Billie Eilish has postponed 11 concerts through the end of March from her current tour.

The ACLU Centennial Gala, originally scheduled for March 31 in Manhattan, has been canceled.

The NBA suspended its current season after a player tested positive for coronavirus. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the organization said in a statement. The NHL followed suit suspending its current season, and the MLB has canceled spring training and pushed back the 2020-2021 season by two weeks.

Nickelodeon postponed the Kids’ Choice Awards. Originally planned for March 22, a new date has yet to be set.

Coachella and Stagecoach have been officially postponed until October, as announced by organizers Goldenvoice. Originally scheduled for April 10-12, Coachella is now set for Oct. 9-11 and Oct. 16-18. Stagecoach is now scheduled for Oct. 23-25. All purchases for the April dates will be honored for the new dates. Purchasers will be notified by March 13 on how to obtain a refund should they elect to seek one.

Green Day canceled its tour dates scheduled in Asia. The band’s “Hella Mega” tour would have taken them throughout the continent, starting in Singapore and stopping in Bangkok, Manila, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo.

Avril Lavigne was scheduled to begin the Asian leg of her “Head Above Water” world tour in Shenzhen, China, on April 23, but the Canadian singer announced that it would not be happening.

Khalid postponed his Asian tour dates. Khalid was set to perform in Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai and Bangalore between March 24 and April 15.

Miami’s Ultra Music Festival that was scheduled for March 20-22 has been canceled. The event was set to feature performances from Flume, Zedd, Sofi Tukker, Gryffin and more.

Mariah Carey announced on Twitter she was rescheduling a March 10 concert in Hawaii due to the “evolving international travel restrictions” caused by coronavirus. She has moved the Honolulu concert stop to Nov. 28.

Ciara has postponed her March 19 concert in Texas. Ciara, who is pregnant, said her doctors have advised her to limit her traveling and meeting in large group gatherings due to coronavirus. The concert was supposed to take place at the brand new USO center in Ford Hood, Texas, but the grand opening of the venue has been rescheduled for this summer.

BTS canceled its “Map of the Soul” tour shows in Korea. The concert dates scheduled for April 11, 12, 18 and 19 at Seoul’s Jamsil Olympic Stadium have been called off. Ticket buyers were automatically refunded the price of their purchase. The Seoul performances were originally scheduled to be the opening shows of the world tour, but with the cancellation, BTS’ first date will likely be April 25.

Neil Young said he is postponing a planned North American tour with Crazy Horse out of concern for older members of his audience.

Pearl Jam has postponed the first leg its upcoming North American tour. The group’s 14-city trek across the U.S. and Canada included stops in New York, Los Angeles and Oakland, and was set to begin on March 18 in Toronto. All shows will be rescheduled at a later date.

Miami’s annual dance music conference, WMC (Winter Music Conference), has been scrapped. The event was scheduled for March 16-19, but will now be rescheduled, according to organizers. The event was originally slated for March 16-19.

The Friday show of the World Tour Bushfire Relief benefit concert in Melbourne, Australia has been canceled after headliner Miley Cyrus pulled out. The concert was originally set for March 13 and would’ve also featured Lil Nas X, the Veronicas and DJ Seb Fontaine: Saturday’s show with headliner Robbie Williams is set to continue as planned.

Several forthcoming concerts in Seattle and San Francisco, including ones by Post Malone and Tame Impala, have been postponed or cancelled due to the cities’ bans on large gatherings of people.

Movie Premiere Dates:

“Fast and Furious 9” has been pushed back a year to April 2021 globally. The U.S. release date is April 2, 2021.

“Mulan” has been delayed indefinitely worldwide after the China release was initially postponed. Disney also announced that “The New Mutants” and “Antlers” are postponed with no new release dates given.

John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place: Part 2” has been delayed indefinitely.

The next James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was originally supposed to be released internationally on April 2 and in the U.S. on April 10, but is now being postponed until November. The film will be released in the U.K. on Nov. 12 and in the U.S. on Nov. 25.

Paramount delayed the release of “Sonic the Hedgehog” in China, which was set to debut on Feb. 28.

Sony has pushed back the release of “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” until Aug. 7. The sequel was originally set to launch in the U.K. and European markets on March 27, and in the U.S. on April 3.

Sony Picture Classics has postponed the release of “The Climb” for “several months.”

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