'Peter Rabbit 2' Has Been Massively Delayed Due To Coronavirus

Planned to hit UK cinemas on 27th March, and later rolling out in Europe and the US the following week, the children's flick will now be released on August 7th.

THR reported Sony made the decision in light of the fact the film is "an internationally-driven title". The first film is said to have made $236 (£182) million of its $351 (£271) million total box office takings outside the US.

On Monday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte put his country on lockdown to combat the virus, which registers the second largest number of cases outside of China.

As part of the quarantine, all of the country's cinemas have closed, along with 40 picturehouses in France and more in many other countries.

In remains to be seen how the virus will impact the film industry longterm, and of course, bosses are running on the assumption the cinemas case will be better, not worse, by August.

Peter Rabbit 2 - which also stars Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, and David Oyelowo - is the second major picture to push back its release due to virus fears.

No Time to Die, the upcoming James Bond sequel, has been pushed back from April to November after "careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace".

Bosses at Universal confirmed the scheduling change last week, after the premiere was due for 31st March.