DC movies schedule: Shazam, Aquaman sequel delays could be a good thing

Warner Bros. Discovery just can’t stay out of the news. There has been weeks of frustration among fans over movies being cancelled. Batgirl You can remove titles such as Infinity Train from HBO Max, the studio announced on Wednesday that it’s delaying Shazam! Fury for the Gods Aquaman and Lost Kingdom. But unlike some of the company’s other recent moves, this one is probably a good step for the future of DC movies.

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, one reason for these movies’ delays is the marketing budgets. WarnerMedia wants to spread out its marketing costs, narrowing its focus on the studio’s two big remaining movies for the rest of 2022, Don’t Worry Darling Black Adam.

However, you don’t have to be on the market Shazam! 2 during the holidays is surely a money-saving tactic, this also speaks to Warner’s desperation to find a hit. Rather than split its marketing three ways, the delay allows the studio to focus its efforts on those two movies in the hopes of making them into the kind of box office smash hits the studio has lacked for the last several years — with a few exceptions like A Star is Born from The Batman And Joker.

Warner Bros. performed well in the 2000s and 2010, but has suffered a steady decline ever since. Even worse was HBO Max.

Warner sailed through bad box office results while other studios waited for their 2020 releases for years. Tenet Wonder Woman 1984 to help boost the streaming service’s lineup. The company announced that 2021’s movie releases will be released in theaters as well as on HBO Max, creating clashes among directors, actors, co-production studios, and other Hollywood stars.

This new release strategy represented a complete shift for Warner, essentially selling out their movies’ potential box office returns in favor of short-term boosts to HBO Max subscribers. It was always inevitable that at least one studio would fall prey to the siren song of Netflix’s sky-high valuations, but HBO Max never managed to get anywhere close to the subscribers it needed. The streaming service topped out at around 80 million subscribers, which left it about 120 million short of the highs of Disney Plus and Netflix, two companies that have massive subscriber numbers but still haven’t found a way to make any real money off their streaming platforms.

Almost eight full months into 2022’s box office, it’s now clear just how much money WarnerMedia’s impatience may have left on the table. Movies like Paramount’s Maverick is the Top Gun And even Warner’s own Elvis and BatmanThe box office has been in full recovery mode and is producing new successes every month. But Warner’s push to get films like Tenet, Dune, Resurrections by The Matrix, King RichardPlease see the following: Suicide SquadThey were all unable to reach their full potential at the box office.

With these recent woes in mind, it’s easy to see why Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent decision making is closer to a medieval bloodletting than surgical cost-cutting. It is facing dire financial difficulties and needs to produce real hits.

Warner seems to be learning from the mistakes of its past. Warner’s new delays are a sign that Warner is moving forward. The company seems willing to put off a movie to ensure it succeeds, and has also placed a greater emphasis on theatrical distribution.

The delay in Shazam! Fury for the Gods. This film will now be released on March 17, 20,23. The original release date was Dec. 16, this year. If that date sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same release date as The Way of Water Avatar, This movie is bound to take over any theatrical or IMAX space. Warner Bros. recognizes this, and will humbly withdraw its holiday movie from competition for a similar marketing strategy. Batman’s successful March release. Meanwhile,Aquaman and Lost Kingdom December 25, 2023, will see the release.

This does not necessarily guarantee success. Shazam! or any of Warner’s other movies, but these recent delays do seem like the first big-picture move in the company’s new strategy. WB will carefully position all movies in order to get maximum box office success if the DC Universe continues to be a blockbuster movie series.