Warner Bros. may have to delay some movies because of the coronavirus (or release them on HBO Max). Maybe the DC FanDome schedule can cheer me up…
The movie industry is a mess right now. The coronavirus has forced theaters to shut down, and everyone’s scrambling trying to figure out what to do with the big tentpole films on their hands. Disney has thrown up its hands and decided to release major movies like Mulan straight to streaming service Disney+. AMC is going ahead and reopening theaters, but it’s anyone’s guess whether people will actually show up to see stuff like The New Mutants and Tenet.
Warner Bros. will probably be watching them closely. The studio has two major movies left on their schedule for the year: Wonder Woman 1984, currently scheduled for October 2; and Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune, due out December 18.
Or at least, that’s when they’re supposed to come out. But speaking (virtually) at a conference earlier this week, WarnerMedia CFO John Stephens admitted that “I am not certain where those are going to go,” and suggested that “further delays in some of the titles” were possible.
Given that there doesn’t seem to be an end to the pandemic in sight, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if these movies got delayed. Alternatively, WarnerMedia might release them on its own streaming service, HBO Max. Streaming has been a bright spot among the pandemic as people are stuck at home, and with WarnerMedia parent company AT&T taking an $830 million hit in its second quarter and WarnerMedia laying off employees, the temptation might be to try and drive subscriptions rather than snag dollars at the box office.
In the meantime, WarnerMedia will try to hype up its fanbase at the DC FanDome, a virtual event going down next Saturday dedicated to all things DC, with lots of stars and popular creatives in attendance. They’ve released their full schedule. Here are some highlights:
- Wonder Woman 1984 panel (1:00 p.m.) — Perhaps we’ll learn the fate of this movie then?
- Introducing Flash (2:45) — All about the upcoming solo The Flash movie with Ezra Miller.
- The Suicide Squad (3:00) — James Gunn answers questions about his upcoming Suicide Squad reboot.
- The Snyder Cut of Justice League (5:45) — You know people are gonna be curious to ask director Zack Snyder questions about this one.
- Black Adam (6:00) — Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson fields questions about his upcoming superhero flick.
- The Batman (8:30) — Director Matt Reeves talks about his Batman reboot. Expect surprises.
We’ll see if the FanDome is enough to lift people’s spirits.
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