It looks like fans will have to wait even longer for the return of Tom Cruise as Maverick Mitchell. Paramount announced that they are pushing back the release of Top Gun: Maverick once again, this time all the way into 2022. The decision comes after a successful launch of clips and footage from the film at CinemaCon, a choice that is also pushing Mission: Impossible 7 and Jackass Forever back several months as well.

With Mission: Impossible 7 now vacating its premiere spot during Memorial Day weekend of 2022 — pushed back all the way to September 30, 2022 — Top Gun will now take its place, putting the sequel back in a summer blockbuster spot, as opposed to its original (but still delayed) release date on November 19. In addition, Jackass Forever will now debut on February 4, 2022, as opposed to October 22 of this year.

This leaves the rest of 2021 without any releases from Paramount, with the studio holding back all of its releases given the current state of the world and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The decision allows Paramount to ensure that their two Cruise-led blockbusters will, in fact, be blockbusters, instead of fizzling out in theaters over a wintery holiday weekend. Jackass moves in solidarity with the other two films, ensuring that Paramount wouldn’t find themselves cherry-picking which films get a better release.

Paramount is not the first studio to continue to bump its films back given the current world climate and the Delta variant of COVID-19, nor will it likely be the last. With this new summer release date, Top Gun: Maverick will officially be released almost three years after it was initially scheduled to open in July of 2019. Mission: Impossible 7 will also be released over a year after its initially scheduled release for July 23 of this year.

via Collider