Warner Bros shifts ‘The Batman,’ ‘Shazam 2,’ Tom Hanks Elvis pic and more

Warner Bros announced a huge batch of shifting dates for some of its most high-profile upcoming films including The Batman with Robert Pattinson suiting up as the caped crusader, Shazam 2, the Will Smith drama King Richard, in which he plays the father of Venus and Serena Williams and the Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis biopic starring Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker.

The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, moves off from June 25, 2021 and lands on October 1, 2021. Not a bad plan as that’s the same weekend where the studio successfully launched Oscar winners Gravity in 2013, A Star Is Born in 2018 and Joker in 2019. All of those films had festival premieres at Venice or Toronto, it remains to be seen if The Batman would do the same but Joker won Venice’s top prize last year so it’s not out of the question.

Tom Hanks was just days from beginning principal photography on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler as Elvis when he and wife Rita Wilson contracted the coronavirus in Australia, shutting down production. Hanks was the first major celebrity to contract the virus and put the most recognizable face on the pandemic as it began its spread across the globe. It moves from October 1, 2021 to November 5, 2021.

The Will Smith drama King Richard, in which he plays the father of Venus and Serena Williams, has been pushed a full year and will now debut on November 19, 2021 instead of November 25 of this year.

 Shazam 2 moves from April 1, 2022 to November 4, 2022, keeping it away from the superhero glut of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 and Black Panther 2. The Flash will actually open a month earlier; moving up to June 3, 2022 from July 1, 2022. No word on if the violent actions of Ezra Miller, who plays the titular role, against a fan will impact the filming or another potential release date change.

Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark, a feature film prequel to HBO’s Emmy-winning The Sopranos, will now open on March 12, 2021 instead of September 25, 2020. It stars Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal and James Gandolfini’s own son Michael as a young Tony Soprano.

Shaka King’s untitled Fred Hampton biopic aka Jesus Was My Homeboy, starring Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya as the famous Black Panther leader, has been indefinitely delayed. It was originally set August 21, 2020.

Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence, a sci-fi thriller about memories being bought and sold in the vein of Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days and starring Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson, will open on April 16, 2021.

Warner Bros had already announced date changes for In the Heights (on indefinite hold) and Wonder Woman 1984, moving the superhero sequel from June 15, 2020 to August 14, 2020 but the placement of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet still hangs in the balance. It was not among the studio’s announcement for a date change and is surprisingly still holding onto a July 17, 2020 release. With The Batman vacating Summer 2021, don’t be surprised if it gets moved to that spot. Same goes for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune remake, still on board for December 18, 2020, but with quite a bit of post-production to complete.