‘Batman’ Moves To October, Will Smith And Tom Hanks’ Biopics Get Delayed And ‘Shazam 2’ Avoids Superhero Competition

Will Smith’s King Richard will now open next November, the Sopranos prequel moves to March of next year and The Batman moves to Warner Bros.’ beloved early October blockbuster launchpad.

Warner Bros. just moved and rescheduled a bunch of their upcoming releases, with a few high-profile 2020 offerings being sent to 2021. The big news is that Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, will now open not on June 25, 2021 but October 1, 2021. That’s the same weekend where Warner Bros. successfully launched Gravity in 2013, Annabelle in 2014, A Star Is Born in 2018 and Joker in 2019.

They had less luck with Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, but you can’t win them all. I’m still half convinced that WB will move either Wonder Woman 1984 or Tenet to early October of this year should things not quickly improve, as A) Venom 2 may not release on time and B) an early October opening means IMAX
IMAX
screens until Black Widow a month later.

In other DC Films news, The Flash will open a month earlier (!) not on July 1, 2022 but on June 3, 2022, which is the fifth anniversary, to the day of the first Wonder Woman. Oh, and Shazam! 2 is moving from April 1, 2022 (where it would have opened a week before Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 and a month before Black Panther 2) to November 4, 2022.

That’s excellent news for the David F. Sandberg-directed sequel, as while the first film was a small-scale hit ($366 million on a $90 million budget), its potential to spawn a breakout sequel was mitigated by opening so close to two other potential “break out sequel” comic book flicks. By the way, I’ve rewatched Into the Spider-Verse a few times while in quarantine. It still rocks and, should things return to normal by then, the sequel is going to make so much money…

In non-DC Films news, Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark, a cinematic prequel to HBO’s The Sopranos, will now open not on September 25, 2020 but on March 12, 2021. I’d make a comment about how that might affect its Oscar chances, but I don’t think any of the usual awards season rules apply until some version of theatrical normalcy returns.

That said, Will Smith’s King Richard, in which he plays the father of Serena and Venus Williams, has been moved from Thanksgiving 2020 to November 19, 2021. So trading one Oscar season release date for a similar one next year. Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence, an original sci-fi thriller about memories being bought and sold starring Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson , will open in conventional and IMAX theaters on April 16, 2021. Let’s hope it turns out better than Transference.

Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis flick, starring Austin Butler as “the King” and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker, will open not on October 1, 2021 but rather November 5, 2021. Again, both are Oscar-friendly dates and WB hopes to have two awards-friendly (and star-driven) biopics in contention a year from this November. Finally, Shaka King’s untitled Fred Hampton biopic, starring Danuel Kaluuya as the famous Black Panther leader, has been indefinitely delayed from its August 21, 2020 release.

That The Batman has been moved out of summer 2021 means that there’s now available slot for a major Warner Bros. summer flick. If we’re just talking Warner Bros., since they have dated “untitled WB event movie” for June 25, 2021 and April 1, 2022, it’s possible that Godzilla Vs. Kong could end up in late June of next year avoid a showdown with Soul and No Time to Die this Thanksgiving. If we’re being pessimistic, Chris Nolan’s Tenet could move nearly an entire year to make sure the $200 million sci-fi original has a prime release date with IMAX access well outside the potential danger zone of pandemic-related theater closures.

Again, I am happy that Shazam! 2 is moving away from Spider-Verse 2 and Black Panther II. Assuming Tenet (or something equally “huge”) doesn’t take its place next summer, the delay of The Batman only means it’s that much more likely that Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion, presuming it makes its June 11, 2021 release date, will likely rule summer 2021 with an iron fist.