It was only a matter of time before The Batman joined the growing list of high-profile film releases impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although production on Matt Reeves’ iteration of the Dark Knight was shut down back in March, there was some optimism (from whence this positivity came, we do not know) that filming might resume and be completed in time for The Batman’s June 2021 release date. But a new report from Variety reveals that Warner Bros. has shifted release dates for multiple titles, including The Batman, which stars Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader. The film will now (hopefully) hit theaters on October 1, 2021.
Warner Bros. has also delayed the release of The Many Saints Of Newark, David Chase’s prequel to The Sopranos. The film was set to open on September 25 of this year, but will now open on March 12, 2021. Shazam 2, which was set for an April 2022 release, will now arrive on November 4, 2022, while the (comically) long-developing Flash solo movie starring Ezra Miller will—somehow???—hit theaters two months earlier, moving from August 1, 2022 to June 2, 2022.
None of these dates feel particularly firm: It remains unclear exactly when and how movie theaters will be able to safely re-open; it’s expected that when restaurants resume operations, they will do so at half-capacity—a tactic that theater chains may be forced to adopt when they eventually re-open their doors.