Disney just made some massive changes to its upcoming film slate. Among these decisions included the choice to move Avengers: Infinity War up one week ahead of schedule, as well as the decision to move Niki Caro's Mulan back by a year. Now another significant change has occurred, as Anna Kendrick's upcoming holiday movie Noelle has been completely jettisoned from the schedule, and it appears like it's headed for the Disney streaming service instead.
The announcement came when Disney revealed the various changes to its slate over the next few years. Marc Lawrence's Noelle -- which centers on Santa's daughter (Anna Kendrick) taking control of operations at the North Pole -- was initially set for release on November 8, 2019. However, in the massive reshuffling of the studio's calendar, Noelle has officially been removed from its slot without being placed somewhere else on the schedule. In addition to the Pitch Perfect star, Noelle also features Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader, as well as Shirley MacLaine and Billy Eichner -- the latter of whom will provide the voice of Timon in Jon Favreau's upcoming remake of The Lion King.
This change has been interesting to watch, as Noelle is already through the early development process. In fact, Anna Kendrick even took to Instagram four months ago to share the first look at her in character. Check out the picture, below.
One thing worth noting about Variety's report on Noelle's removal from the Disney release schedule is the fact that it might be a move to help launch the company's new streaming platform. We know that the Disney streaming service is coming, and many of the rumors associated with its launch have suggested a fall 2019 release. This launch would line it up perfectly with Noelle's originally-planned November 8, 2019 release and make it an easy project to shift from the silver screen to the small screen.
With that said, we still don't know what this possibility means for Noelle itself. On the one hand, it could be a move by Disney to incentivize subscriptions on the new platform by adding a mid-budget original project that the studio has faith in to do well with audiences. After all, Disney has also hinted (without revealing anything definitive) that it intends to produce other original content for its streaming platform, with many fans assuming that we could see a Star Wars series or a Marvel Cinematic Universe project debut when the digital service eventually drops.
On the other (more cynical) hand, however, Noelle's potential jump to the Disney streaming service could be a Cloverfield Paradox-esque move to dump a project that might not do well at the box office. At this point, either possibility stands out as a viable option.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information about Noelle as new updates related to the project are made available to us. For now, those of you who are looking for more up-to-date information about 2018's most prominent release dates can hop over to our movie premiere guide and fill your moviegoing calendars out accordingly!
