Warner Bros. has announced that DC’s blockbuster will be cancelled, in a major blow to fall box office. “Shazam: Fury of the Gods”The release date for December 2022 will now be March 2023. This takes over a slot that was once owned by “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,”This will be pushed back until Christmas Day 2023.
Warner Bros. announced the same “House Party” “Evil Dead Rise,”Initially approved for HBO Max release, these will now be theatrical releases. They will debut on the big screen on December 9, 2022 and April 21, 20,23, respectively. The New Line horror program has the following: “Conjuring”Film “The Nun 2”It was slated to be released on Labor Day weekend next, while the Stephen King adaptation “Salem’s Lot”The slate was removed while postproduction continues.
Warner had earlier this year swapped the release dates for “Shazam 2” “Aquaman 2,”With insiders telling the truth at the time “Shazam 2”Postproduction was completed “Aquaman 2”Due to the high demand from the film industry for visual effects, the company was experiencing a slowdown in production. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and projects that were delayed.
With this new slate change, the only remaining DC film on Warner’s 2022 slate is “Black Adam,”This is scheduled for release on Oct. 23. The exit of “Shazam 2” from the holiday slate will likely be the gain of 20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” as it now stands as the sole four-quadrant blockbuster on the holiday slate against the Universal/DreamWorks’ family film “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and Sony’s Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
For movie theaters seeking a strong holiday season, one less superhero film will mean that they have to cancel the year. The box office is down to $100 million, which is a significant drop in comparison to what was a very bad third quarter. It has not been expected to rebound until October.
The move of “Evil Dead Rise” “House Party” from HBO Max to theatrical will be an encouraging sign for theater execs, who have been waiting for new Warner CEO David Zaslav to make good on his promise to renew the studio’s focus on theatrical releases at a time when the number of films being released in theaters is still below pre-pandemic levels.
“Evil Dead Rise”This series could outperform, given its popularity with horror fans. Executive producers are Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, who were both the original stars of the series. The last “Evil Dead”Film, directed by Fede Avarez in 2013, grossed $97.5 Million worldwide, against a $17,000,000 budget.
DC: “Shazam: Fury of the Gods”It is now in a March 17, release slate, where it will be trying to improve on its $140.4 million domestic/$366million worldwide total. “Shazam”Earned in April 2019. The film will be released one week before Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4,”Premium format support will be available at most on the opening weekend to increase its popularity.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” will also get premium format support, though it is currently lined up to compete against Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron,” Paramount’s next “Star Trek” film, and Sony’s sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”
It is possible for one of those films to be pushed back due to the arrival “Aquaman 2,”Especially considering that Lucasfilm head Patty Jenkins told Vanity Fair that in May “Rogue Squadron”It was “pushed aside” while director Patty Jenkins continued to work on the film’s script.