“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and Shazam: Fury of the Gods” will land in theaters later than planned.
Warner Bros. on Wednesday announced a slew of release date changes, pushing the “Aquaman” follow-up from March 17, 2023 to Dec. 25, 2023. The “Shazam” sequel will open on the date previously occupied by Jason Momoa’s hulking King of Atlantis. The story about Zachary Levi’s Billy Batson was originally set for Dec. 21, 2022.
On its new date, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” will debut a few days after Disney’s “Star Wars” spinoff “Rogue Squadron” (Dec. 23, 2023). Meanwhile, “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” which was initially set to face off against James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” now has free rein over its new opening weekend. Plus, a March release date worked well for Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader adventure “The Batman” ($770 million globally), another DC Comics film.
As part of the calendar shuffle, an “untitled WB event film” has landed on Feb. 10, 2023, “Evil Dead Rise” has been scheduled for April 4, 2023 and “The Conjuring” spinoff sequel “The Nun 2” will be released on Sept. 8, 2023. And “Salem’s Lot,” which was slated for April 21, 2023, is being moved to a to-be-announced date in the same year.
“Evil Dead Rise,” the fifth chapter in the horror franchise, as well as the LeBron James-produced remake “House Party,” which is scheduled for Dec. 9, 2022, were expected to debut on HBO Max but both films will now play exclusively in theaters.
As for HBO Max releases, there’s plenty on the way to round out the year: the Yuletide comedy “A Christmas Story Christmas” is set for Nov. 17, 2022; the romantic drama “Holiday Harmony” will be released on Nov. 24, 2022, the eerie “A Christmas Mystery” will land on Nov. 24, 2022 and the industry-inspired romantic comedy “A Hollywood Christmas” will arrive on Dec. 1, 2022.