The Batman, Morbius, other movies all pulled from Russia

We’re all watching the situation in Ukraine, which is currently being invaded by the Russian military under the direction of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The international community has come together to support Ukrainian resistance, with even long neutral nations like Sweden and Switzerland sending military aid. Many nations have also imposed severe economic sanctions of Russia, including removing some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging service, making it much harder for them to carry out important financial transactions.

By comparison, the entertainment industry can’t do much, but it’s doing what it can. Several major studios have pulled upcoming movies from the release schedule in Russia. That started with Disney, which yesterday announced it would be delaying the release of the latest Pixar movie in the country. “Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning Red from Pixar,” the studio said in a statement. “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation. In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.”

Other studios quickly followed suit, including Warner Bros., which was about to release The Batman in Russia. “In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing the release of its feature film, The Batman in Russia,” the studio said. “We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves. We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to this tragedy.”

Sony also suspended the release of one of its big upcoming movies. “Given the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be pausing our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius,” a spokesperson said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly.”

And Paramount joined the group today. “As we witness the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, we have decided to pause the theatrical release of our upcoming films in Russia, including The Lost City, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” it announced. “We stand by all those impacted by the humanitarian crisis across Ukraine, Russia, and our international markets and will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds.”

Disney, Warner Bros. and other studios pull movies from Russia

In light of the seriousness of what is happening in Ukraine, I don’t wanna give the studios too much credit for suspending movie releases. But it is unusual for a movie studio to forego releasing a film in a potentially lucrative market. Spider-Man: No Way Home, for instance, made almost $45 million in Russia. Movie studios aren’t known to pass up a chance for profit, so this is noteworthy.

It’s another example of many different organizations the world over doing what they can to put pressure on Russia in the hopes that they will stop the invasion of Ukraine. We at WiC also wish the people of Ukraine the best and hope for a peaceful end to the conflict as quickly as possible.

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