'Morbius' Delays Release To April Due To Omicron Surge

After several delays due to the pandemic, the release of Sony Pictures’ “Morbius” has been once again moved to a new date – April 1 instead of Jan. 28 amid the rising Omicron cases.

The movie, which is part of Sony’s “Spider-man” cinematic universe, has been moved through several supposed release dates since 2020, according to a report by Variety. The film was supposed to be shown on July 10, 2020 but was postponed due to lockdown restrictions. It was moved to July 31, 2020, then on March 19, 2021 to Oct. 8, 2021 and then to Jan. 21, 2022 before shifting again to the Jan. 28 date and finally now, to April 1.

The “Spider-man” spin-off stars Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius - a critically-ill Nobel-prize winning Biochemist who accidentally turns himself into a vampire after attempting to cure his rare blood disease. Like a real vampire, Morbius consumes blood to survive. After drinking his victim’s blood, his mind returns to normal but with much guilt, remorse and self-hate.

Morbius possesses traditional vampire strengths, self-regeneration, minor hypnotic powers, and air gliding abilities. Unlike "real" vampires, however, he is not weakened by the sun, garlic or religious artifacts.

"Morbius" was directed by Daniel Espinosa and also stars Michael Keaton, Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, and Archie Renaux among others.

The movie’s new release date sets it up against "Easter Sunday," a comedy film starring Tiffany Haddish and Jimmy O. Yang and Chris Pine’s thriller, "The Contractor."

See "Morbius" official trailer below:

Meanwhile, after celebrating the recent blockbuster successes of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” Sony Pictures is set to bring another standalone “Spider-man” villain movie to theatres in 2023, Kraven the Hunter, who was seen in a key moment in “ Spider-Man: No Way Home” as the barriers between universes are collapsing.

Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to Spider-man in the late 1990s which gave the studio access to Marvel Comics’ flagship superhero and his antagonists and allies from Marvel. The deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures paved the way for Spider-man to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Captain America: Civil War.”