Warner Bros. has confirmed a swathe of delays for a lot of of its greatest films, with Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom, hit the toughest.
Information broke in a single day that the studio could be shifting a lot of its launch dates, with each Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom and Shazam! sequel, Shazam: Fury Of The Gods shifted again.
Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom had initially been as a result of debut in theaters on December 16 this yr, earlier than being pushed again to March 17 in 2023 in March of this yr. Now, the Jason Momoa-powered blockbuster has been pushed again even additional and will not arrive in theaters till December 25 in 2023.
In response to Deadline, the delay has been attributable to the necessity to spend extra time on the film in post-production.
With Aquaman now gone from its March 17 slot, Warner Bros. executives have moved Shazam: Fury Of The Gods into that slot, delaying it from a deliberate launch date of December 21 this yr, a choice Deadline have attributed to the massive success of The Batman, which opened in early March in 2022.
In addition to that, there’s additionally the looming specter of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Manner Of Water, which is able to lastly arrive in theaters this December. The Avatar sequel would have dominated lots of the massive ticket choices for movie-going in IMAX and now Shazam 2 can be free to take these screens when it opens.
That does soften the blow of each these delays considerably, however it’s nonetheless gutting to learn that we can’t get to see Jason Momoa’s Aquaman strutting his stuff till the very finish of 2023.
Was all of it unhealthy information?
Not fully, there was some excellent news, particularly for horror followers.
The sequel to hit The Conjuring spin-off The Nun lastly has a launch date, that can hit theaters on September 8 in 2023.
Sadly, the long-awaited new tackle Stephen King’s basic chiller, Salem’s Lot, must be awaited for a very good whereas longer. Initially due in theaters this autumn, then moved to April 2023, the film, which has been made by Annabelle Comes House director Gary Dauberman, has now misplaced its launch date fully as, like Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom, post-production is taking longer than anticipated.
One other horror, Evil Useless Rise, which is to be the fifth instalment within the Evil Useless franchise, has been moved from a deliberate launch on HBO Max solely and can now hit theaters. That is due in April 2023 within the slot Salem’s Lot has vacated.
Lastly, the reboot of basic comedy Home Celebration, which counts NBA famous person LeBron James amongst its producers, can be shifting away from an HBO Max launch and into theaters. That is now due on December 9 this yr.
Evaluation: A change of tack for Warner Bros?
When The Hollywood Reporter coated the shock information that Batgirl was being canceled and would by no means be seen by the general public, it additionally reported that Warner Bros. would possible delay each the Shazam and Aquaman sequels because it appears to be like to unfold the prices of selling two blockbuster films. It appears that evidently’s precisely what’s deliberate out right here.
In his early media appearances, Warner Bros. Discovery’s new-ish CEO David Zaslav has made it clear that he’ll retaining a good maintain on purse strings, as has performed out with quite a few tasks at HBO Max and at Warner Bros. canceled, together with J. J. Abrams’ sci-fi epic Demimonde, a Marvel Twins film that was booked to debut on HBO Max, and, in fact, Batgirl, which Zaslav and his crew have determined serves the corporate higher as a tax writedown than a theatrical launch.
With the transfer of Home Celebration and Evil Useless Rise to a extra conventional theatrical launch, it appears Zaslav and the Warner Bros. executives are nonetheless believers within the energy of film theaters, so long as they’ll funds accordingly.
