Universal Pictures delayed the release of its R-rated comedy Strays, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, on Monday. The movie was scheduled to hit theaters on June 9, but it will not open on Aug. 18. The move is not linked to Foxx’s recent hospitalization, but could have more to do with the Writers Guild of America strike.
Strays‘ new release date became available when Universal decided to make the Please Don’t Destroyย team’s untitled movie a Peacock exclusive without a theatrical release. Strays could also use promotion from late-night shows, which are on hold for the foreseeable future during the writers’ strike, notes Deadline. Universal had already started promoting the movie, with Ferrell attending CinemaCon in Las Vegas last month. Press screenings and junkets were also slated to start soon.
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It’s difficult for an original, R-rated comedy to launch at any time of year now, and Strays had plenty of challenges ahead. Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on June 9, and Warner Bros.’ The Flash opens on June 16. On its new date, Strays will now open opposite Warner Bros.’ Blue Beetle.
Strays was written by Dan Perrault (American Vandal) and directed by Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar). Ferrell voices a Border Terrier named Reggie who is abandoned by his owner Doug (Will Forte). He teams up with other strays voiced by Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park to seek revenge. Rob Riggle, Dennis Quaid, Sofia Vergara, Jamie Demetriou, Brett Gelman, Harvey Guillen, and Josh Gad also have roles in the film.
Foxx was hospitalized on April 11 in Georgia, where he was finishing up work on his Netflix movie Back in Action. The actor’s family has not shared details about the “medical complication” he experienced, but he finally broke his silence on Instagram last week. “Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed,” he wrote to fans on May 3. He is still hospitalized.
“I was texting him, and just yesterday, I talked to his friend, who’s like really in touch with him,” Natasha Blasick, who worked with Foxx on the unreleased All-Star Weekend movie, told Entertainment Tonight. “I was, like, really freaking out [with] all of the news that he’s getting worse. So I was texting [his friend], and he’s like, ‘No, no, no, he’s recovering.’ So just hearing that he was recovering made me feel so much better.”
“I think the dope thing is that he’s getting better in his situation, and everybody’s prayers, everybody’s love, energy, all that stuff is seen and felt,” Kevin Hart, a close friend of Foxx’s, said on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast last week. “I don’t know the details or the exact details as to what’s going on, but to my knowledge, there’s a lot of progression and a world of better.”
