Evangelion Film Release Delayed Due To Coronavirus

The highly-anticipated sequel to 2013's Evangelion 3.0, the animated movie Evangelion 3.0+1.0, will be postponed due to coronavirus. Studio Khara announced the delay on April 17, saying it had attempted to deliver the movie on time. However, according to a translation by Crunchyroll, production will now halt "due to the unprecedented situation in Japan and overseas due to the spread of the new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19)."

Originally slated to be released on June 27 of this year, the Japanese government expanded Japan's State of Emergency to cover the whole country, which allowed that certain businesses to close down, including movie theaters. Movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka have already moved to limited hours to none at all.

3.0+1.0 was teased at the end of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo with Asuka rescuing Shinji from the cockpit of Unit 13, then dragging him through the remains of Tokyo-3, with Rei following close behind.

3.0+1.0 (also called Thrice Upon A Time) is the fourth installment of the Evangelion movie franchise, and the second time it's been delayed. The first time was when director Hideaki Anno stopped production to work on Shin Godzilla as well as mental health reasons, and resumed work on it in 2016 after initially wanting the release in 2015.

A new release date has not been decided or announced at this time.