The theatrical release of Operation Mincemeat has been postponed in UK and Ireland. The John Madden film will be released on April 22, 2022, instead of the initial release date of January 14. Operation Mincemeat is one of the many films whose release schedules have been affected by the rise of the omicron variant of COVID-19.

The UK is currently seeing a massive spread of the omicron variant. According to reports by the UK Health Security Agency, the virus is spreading pretty drastically, with already around 4,713 confirmed Omicron cases, in addition to the 200,000 COVID being reported every day. New restrictions are already underway and have been implemented since last week. The U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has revealed the estimates in the House of Commons on Monday.

People are being encouraged to work from their homes, and wearing masks has again been made compulsory in cinemas and theaters. However, cinemas are still open in the UK and have not yet been made part of the vaccine passport program, which is now compulsory for nightclubs and other large venues. Moreover, Box Office turnovers in the UK have already smashed records. On the other hand, several theatrical productions in London’s West End have been forced to cancel shows in the wake of the rejuvenated COVID outbreak. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Comedy of Errors at the Barbican has also been canceled, and Southwark Playhouse has ended the run of musical The Rhythmics three weeks early.

Madden's upcoming WWII spy drama tells the story of the curious efforts to keep the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 a secret. Operation Mincemeat was a critical military deception operation that misdirected German forces' attention away from the Allied Invasion of Sicily in Operation Husky. The James Bond creator Ian Fleming, who was a Lieutenant Commander at the time, was also involved in the plan’s conception.

Colin Firth will be playing the role of the Naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, a central figure in the mission. Operation Mincemeat will reunite Colin Firth with The King’s Speech producer See-Saw Films a decade after their Oscar-winning venture. Apart from Firth, the film also stars notable names like Matthew Macfayden, Jason "Malfoy" Isaacs, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, and actor/musician Johnny Flynn, who has been turning heads on the silver screen for a while now.

Operation Mincemeat is being released by Warner Bros. International in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Benelux.