'The Forever Purge' Won't Open This Summer As Universal Pulls It From The Release Calendar

‘The Forever Purge’ Won’t Open This Summer As Universal Pulls It From The Release Calendar

Universal has pulledThe Forever Purgeoff its summer calendar altogether. The fifth installment in Universal-BlumhousePurgeseries,The Forever Purgewas originally dated for July 10 but now has no set date. It’s unclear if the film will go direct to PVOD or if Universal will delay it for a later theatrical release date.

Deadline reports that Universal-Blumhouse’sThe Forever Purgehas been pulled from itsJuly 10release date, right before Warner Bros.' highly anticipated tentpoleTenet. This suggests that Universal, which was ahead of the game in moving its theatrical releases to VOD with its successful day-and-date release ofTrolls World Tour, is not confident that theaters will open by July amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

No new release date forThe Forever Purgehas yet been announced by Universal, nor is it certain whether Universal will drop the film on VOD. The last threePurgemovies all hit during July, with the franchise’s four films grossing more than $456 million worldwide.

Universal has seen success with the VOD release ofTrolls World Tourthe tune of nearly $100 million, and is releasing the Judd Apatow comedyThe King of Staten Islanddigitally on June 12. This move also heavily suggests that the July theatrical release ofTenetis in danger. Solstice Studios' Russell Crowe movieUnhingedmaintains its spot as the earliest wide release for theaters to reopen on July 1, but with Universal pulling its entire summer theatrical calendar, this may signal that the summer movie season is done. It may only be a matter of time until Warner Bros. pushes backTenet, which along withMulan,theaters are depending onfor a financial kickstart once they re-open.

While details about the newPurgemovie are still unknown, the film reportedly takes “the Purge out of its usual metropolitan setting while still dealing with class and race issues in the way the previous films have.” The lastPurgefilm, the prequel movieThe First Purge, hit theaters in 2018.

Everardo GroutdirectsTheForever Purgefrom a screenplay by franchise creatorJames DeMonaco.The Forever Purgeis produced by the team that founded the franchise, includingJason Blumfor his Blumhouse Productions; Platinum Dunes partnersMichael Bay, Andrew Form,andBrad Fuller; and Man in a Tree duoJames DeMonacoand his longtime producing partnerSébastien K. Lemercier. Marcei A. Brown, Couper Samuelson, and Jeanette Volturno are excutive producers forThe Forever Purge.