‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and Next ‘Mission: Impossible’ Won’t Hit Paramount+ Until 2022
If you’re a Paramount+ subscriber in need of a Tom Cruise fix, we’ve got some bad news. Today, Paramount announced a massive reshuffle of its upcoming films, and it means that Paramount+ will be lacking some serious firepower this year.
“Top Gun: Maverick” is moving from July 2 to November 19, 2021. Since Paramount+ doesn’t get Paramount movies until a 45-day theatrical window closes, you won’t be able to stream the movie until January 3 at the earliest.
With “Top Gun” sliding into the slot previously reserved for the next “Mission: Impossible” movie, that sequel slides to theaters on May 27, 2022, which would mean a Paramount+ debut roughly July 11 of next year.
New Paramount Theatrical Schedule
- “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe – Origins” moves to July 23, 2021
- The new “Jackass” movie goes to October 22, 2021
- An untitled Bee Gees biopic arrives November 4, 2022
- “Dungeons & Dragons” rolls to March 3, 2023
- A new “Star Trek” beams down June 9, 2023
- “Mission: Impossible 8” debuts July 7, 2023
- And the animated “The Shrinking of Treehorn” hits theaters November 10, 2023
While these delays must be frustrating for fans of the films, they must be driving Paramount+ subscribers absolutely mad. While WarnerMedia is packing their 2021 schedule with big-budget films that arrive in theater and on HBO Max simultaneously, Paramount is leaving its streaming subscribers out in the cold.
More baffling, the studio had films that could have arrived on Paramount+, but those were handed over to Amazon Prime Video. “Coming 2 America” has been a streaming smash, and Chris Pratt's upcoming “Tomorrow War” will debut on Prime Video just in time for the July 4 weekend.
As the streaming competition heats up, there’s no time to lose. That’s why Paramount’s strategy is so confusing. To borrow a phrase from Kenny Loggins’ “Top Gun” hit, Paramount seems to be putting its streaming service directly in “the Danger Zone.”