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

Universal has pulled The Forever Purge off its summer calendar altogether. The fifth installment in Universal-Blumhouse Purge series, The Forever Purge was 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’s The Forever Purge has been pulled from its July 10 release date, right before Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated tentpole Tenet. This suggests that Universal, which was ahead of the game in moving its theatrical releases to VOD with its successful day-and-date release of Trolls World Tour, is not confident that theaters will open by July amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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

Universal has seen success with the VOD release of Trolls World Tour the tune of nearly $100 million, and is releasing the Judd Apatow comedy The King of Staten Island digitally on June 12. This move also heavily suggests that the July theatrical release of Tenet is in danger. Solstice Studios’ Russell Crowe movie Unhinged maintains 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 back Tenet, which along with Mulan, theaters are depending on for a financial kickstart once they re-open.

While details about the new Purge movie 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 last Purge film, the prequel movie The First Purge, hit theaters in 2018.

Everardo Grout directs The Forever Purge from a screenplay by franchise creator James DeMonaco. The Forever Purge is produced by the team that founded the franchise, including Jason Blum for his Blumhouse Productions; Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller; and Man in a Tree duo James DeMonaco and his longtime producing partner Sébastien K. Lemercier. Marcei A. Brown, Couper Samuelson, and Jeanette Volturno are excutive producers for The Forever Purge.

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