Home Entertainment WB delays full DC films slate to 2022 and beyond, but moves up Matrix 4

WB delays full DC films slate to 2022 and beyond, but moves up Matrix 4

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Well, damn. After the first major domino fell this morning with Dune being delayed nine months, the rest of Warner Bros’ house of cards just came crashing down. And yes, I know those metaphors are mixed but 2020 doesn’t care about rules, so why should I?

With Dune now officially confirmed to be releasing on 1 October 2021, it’s causing a knock-on effect to some of the biggest entries on WB’s release calendar, specifically the studio’s DC Comics blockbuster. 1 October 2021 had actually already been the home of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but with Dune taking that slot over, the Robert Pattinson-led reboot of the Dark Knight is grappling its way to 4 March 2022.

The Flash, which is being set up as the lynchpin of the future of the DC Extended Universe as it sets up a multiverse filled with different versions of DC Comics characters, was going to release just two months later on 3 June 2022. It’s now being given some much-needed breathing room by only hitting cinemas on 4 November 2023. Thanks to COVID-19 shutdowns, the Ezra Miller-led flick (which will see Ben Affleck back as Batman but also Michael Keaton somehow reprising his role as the Dark Knight from the Tim Burton-directed Batman moves in the 1990s) will only start shooting in March 2021, so this delay is a good thing.

With The Flash taking that 4 November release slot though, it means that Shazam! Fury of the Gods has to vacate it, as the magical DC Comics blockbuster – which sees Zachary Levi lead again, directed by David Sandberg – will be pushed back 2 June 2023. One rather surprising wrinkly is that Dwayne Johnson’s long-gestating Black Adam film, which was supposed to drop on 22 December 2021 no longer has a release date. This is definitely not an indication that the production is in trouble. Just last week it was revealed that Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man, Leverage) is in talks to play classic DC hero Hawkman in the film. I think this is more just a case of WB waiting to see how this all plays out.

One WB release we won’t have to wait for though is The Matrix 4. The long-anticipated fourquel which brings back original stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss was originally set to drop 4 March 2022, the slot now occupied by The Batman. With returning director Lana Wachowski pretty far along in production, WB has decided to bring The Matrix 4 forward to 22 December 2021 to close the year off with a bang.

A few other sundry changes from WB sees the very-long-in-development Minecraft movie, which has gone through a bunch of production trouble, taken out of its original 3 March 2022 slot and completely removed from the calendar. The studio has also penciled two other Untitled WB Event Films for 3 June 2022 and 5 August 2022. Your guess is as good as ours as to what they could be.

Last Updated: October 6, 2020

One Comment

  1. Iskape

    October 6, 2020 at 09:47

    Well, that’s definitely some crazy delay times.

    Reply

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