In the latest of a whole lot of adjustments at Warner Bros. Discovery, two of the studio’s major sequels just got their release dates changed. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Shazam! Fury of the Gods are opening months later than previously in announced—in Aquaman‘s case, nine whole months later.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was set for release on March 17, 2023; it’s now a movie for next Christmas, opening December 25, 2023. Meanwhile, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was meant to be Warner’s big holiday season release this year—but it’s taking the old Aquaman date, and moving to March 17, 2023.
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Weird how those dates are both other holidays, but okay. Maybe they’ll make a St. Patrick’s Day movie a thing.
Variety notes that this puts the Aquaman 2 opening just days after the December 23, 2023, premiere date of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, a movie I would very much love to see but am just a little skeptical is really going to happen next year. This year’s holiday season can now belong fully to James Cameron, still betting that people want to go back to the world of Avatar more than a decade after the first film.
Several non-DC films from the studio also had their release dates changed. An “untitled WB event film” takes February 10, 2023; Evil Dead Rise is set for April 4, 2023 (and will premiere in theaters rather than on HBO Max); The Nun 2 is coming September 8, 2023; and Salem’s Lot, previously scheduled for April 21, 2023, will open some other day that is not yet announced.
In the wake of all the other changes at Warner Bros. Discovery, these are fairly small potatoes, but still part of the change in leadership. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the date shifts are part of the studio’s plan “to spread out the marketing and distribution costs associated with releasing a studio tentpole.”
The studio recently cancelled the much anticipated Batgirl film, shelving it completely—but not before holding “funeral screenings” for it on their lot. But the Bat-universe continues, both with Joker: Folie à Deux set for 2024, and with the studio’s new deal with The Batman director Matt Reeves.
