Warner Bros. Opts To Punt Its Movies Than Pay Its Talent
Warner Bros. Opts To Punt Its Movies Than Pay Its Talent
They are the third studio to do so while not bothering to negotiate with the writers or the actors
It was only inevitable as the stupid option, and Warner Bros. has taken it. The studio has delayed several of its releases, including the animated Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim from New Line, and Legendary’s Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and Dune: Part Two.
The Dune sequel has been moved off of its November 3, 2023 date to March 15, 2024, keeping its IMAX commitments and being hinted for Berlin Film Festival or SXSW debuts beforehand. It dislodges Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire from the spot, pushed four weeks to April 12. In turn, it dislodges Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, which moves to December 13, 2024. That time of year is very familiar to the franchise, as all six previous live action films were released in that holiday period, well before it became the spot for Star Wars, Avatar, and Spider-Man films. While many are expecting seismic shifts regarding scheduling, that probably won’t amount. However, something small like The Marvels, currently dated for November 10 could move up the week for more comfort and take on the available IMAX screens. It would give the film extra time on large format screens before The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes arrives on November 17.
While Dune: Part Two departs, Warner Bros. other big releases for the rest of the year from that point are sticking around. Wonka is still set for December 15, DC’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom for December 20, and the remake of The Color Purple for December 25, regardless of how long the AMPTP avoids the negotiating table, finding it necessary to help post-COVID. The move for Godzilla X Kong will apparently help its China grosses and currently has no major competition, as does Dune: Part Two in its new situation. The War of Rohirrim meanwhile faces off against Sony’s reboot of The Karate Kid, which moved from a June date at the end of last month. At that same time, they undated two films including Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, taking the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel to the March 29 slot it abdicated, which is now Dune: Part Two’s third week. They also moved Kraven The Hunter from October 6, 2023 to August 30, 2024. Disney also made scheduling moves that may have as much to do with the VFX work, but affected films dated to that point for 2024 and onward.
When moving Kraven, the major reasoning given was that it gives time for the strikes to end, so actors, such as Dune’s young stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Austin Butler can be available for major press tours. Except if they wanted them for press tours that badly the studios could head to the negotiating table right now and end the damn strike by meeting the actors’ and writers’ needs, but they refuse. The Hollywood studios would rather risk hundreds of millions of dollars, cripple such major releases with weaker off-peak release dates, and change their entire schedules than pay their workers a fair wage. These delays are a negotiation tactic that just won't find success. Support the unions folks, word is the AMPTP needed to hire new PR.
Source: Deadline